Virginia bans homosexual civil unions

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Now this is beyond arguing that marriage is for heterosexuals.. This is just mean-spirited...
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/25/vi....ap/index.html

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Gay activists in Virginia are toying with a new motto for the state: "Virginia is for lovers. ..Some restrictions apply."

Gays and lesbians are angry and even threatening to leave the state over a new law that will prohibit civil unions and could interfere with contracts between same-sex couples.

Some legal experts call it the most restrictive anti-gay law in the nation.

"I won't buy a home in Virginia. I'm done," said Bo Shuff, a 30-year-old gay rights activist who has rented in the Washington suburb of Arlington for the past two years.

Edna Johnston, a lesbian who has scuttled plans to move her historic preservation consulting business from Washington to northern Virginia, said: "It's not a signal, it's a message: `You're not welcome."'

The new law is an amendment to the state's 1997 Affirmation of Marriage Act, which prohibits same-sex marriages. The amendment extends that ban to civil unions, partnership contracts and other "arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage."

Virginia's attorney general and other supporters say the law provides a needed safeguard for the institution of marriage.

But some legal experts say the law is so vague that it could interfere with powers of attorney, wills, medical directives, child custody and property arrangements, and joint bank accounts.

"For the Virginia legislature to go as far as they did, knowing that this is probably unconstitutional, to me it is a political statement," said Henry F. Fradella, a law professor at the College of New Jersey who specializes in gay rights law. "I have not seen anything quite so radical."

The bill's sponsor, Delegate Robert Marshall, a Republican, said the law is aimed at preventing same-sex couples from acquiring the benefits of marriage through other means.

One state, Massachusetts, has legalized same-sex marriage. Civil unions are legal in Vermont, and California and Hawaii have domestic partnership laws that provide certain legal rights to gay relationships. New Jersey has a partnership law taking effect July 1.

"Civil union is a proxy for marriage and domestic partnership is a proxy for civil unions," Marshall said.

Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, the likely GOP nominee for governor next year, has said he believes the law will pass constitutional muster.

Conservative groups such as the Family Foundation have praised the law, which passed the GOP-controlled legislature by a veto-proof margin after Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner tried to make it less restrictive.

Warner said the bill interferes with people's right to enter contracts and violates the 14th Amendment guarantee to due process and equal protection. He said constitutional scholars urged him to veto it.

"I think the courts will show that it's unconstitutional," Warner said. "This bill went way beyond gay marriage and civil unions."

The state's leading gay rights organization, Equality Virginia, is discussing options for challenging the law, which takes effect July 1.

But some gays say the piling on of anti-gay legislation is starting to wear them down.

Virginia is the only state where companies not large enough to underwrite their own insurance policies are prohibited from offering domestic partner benefits. The state also bans joint adoptions by same-sex couples and refuses to list the names of same-sex couples from other states on the birth certificates of children adopted here.

Lawmakers also shot down attempts this year to rewrite the state's anti-sodomy law to conform with the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas law against gay sex.

Barry Parsons, a 39-year-old lawyer, left Virginia for Washington in 1999 so he and his partner of 12 years could adopt a baby. He said Virginia could suffer economically if more professional gays like him move out.

"I went to law school in Virginia and the state of Virginia invested a substantial amount of money in my education," Parsons said. "After four years I left and that's when my income started to pick up. Now all my taxes are going to D.C."

Brad Haransky, a 43-year-old director of membership for a Washington lobbying firm, said he and his partner moved to Virginia three years ago to escape the city. Now they are thinking about moving back.

"If every gay person said, `We're out of here,' we'd crash the market big time," he said. In some neighborhoods in Arlington, he said, "every third or fourth house is gay-owned."

Victoria Cobb, lobbyist for the Family Foundation, called this a "ridiculous threat."

"This reminds me of the Hollywood elite's reaction to Bush being elected," she said. "Virginia has always elevated marriage over all other relationships. Traditional marriage is undeniably beneficial to the economy."

[Timber Loftis]

Yes, well, Virginia ahs been wrong on the marriage thing before *cough* Loving v. Virginia *cough*

[The Hierophant]

"Gays and lesbians are angry and even threatening to leave the state over a new law that will prohibit civil unions and could interfere with contracts between same-sex couples."

Now, to isolate just this little snippet of an article heavily pregnant with controversial issues, I'd say that Gays and Lesbians leaving the State is exactly what supporters of such legislation want. Gays are very much a social minority, and I seriously doubt that leaving is going to do much to harm Virginia's economy in the long run. So, gay couples leave, small-minded busy-bodies dance for joy around their cowboy hats. Battle won. Scratch one for sexual bigotry.

[ 05-25-2004, 11:02 PM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]

[promethius9594]

The state's leading gay rights organization, Equality Virginia

first off, lets get one thing straight... the gay rights movement is not about "equality"
in marraige, we already have that. if any gay man wants to marry a woman, he has the same right as any straight man to do so. the gay marraige movement asserts that there should be an EXPANSION of rights, not an equality of them.

"If every gay person said, `We're out of here,' we'd crash the market big time,"

gays and lesbians make up around 2 percent of the national population. they arent necessarily the "most rich" or the "most powerful." they are NORMAL people. this is such an arrogant outlook that its ridiculous. if all the gays moved out of this country it wouldnt harm the economy in the slightest. every third or forth house in arlington? disagree, it doesnt even remotely agree with any statistic on homosexuality rates. why does the media insist on reporting opinions that simply arent true... oh yeah, thats right, most people don't bother to consider truth as opposed to opinion.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Originally posted by promethius9594: The state's leading gay rights organization, Equality Virginia gays and lesbians make up around 2 percent of the national population. they arent necessarily the "most rich" or the "most powerful." they are NORMAL people. this is such an arrogant outlook that its ridiculous. if all the gays moved out of this country it wouldnt harm the economy in the slightest. every third or forth house in arlington? disagree, it doesnt even remotely agree with any statistic on homosexuality rates. why does the media insist on reporting opinions that simply arent true... oh yeah, thats right, most people don't bother to consider truth as opposed to opinion.

2 percent. Really.
Odd, since I've been trying for quite some time to find reliable statistics. Care to share your source of information? I won't dignify the rest of your post with a response, though I'm itching to, without it.

[promethius9594]

http://www.cathmed.org/publications/homosexuality.html

theres one source, its in there somewhere, the author of the page also backs everything up with scientific research reports.

but either way, here is a much better source which even recommends reading the pro gay rights legal brief for the court case referenced, because the PRO gay brief contains roughly the same figure i gave you (the average works out to two percent).

Homosexual activist groups have finally admitted that their claim that 10% of the population is "gay" is false. This admission took place in a Friend of the Court brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26, 2003 in the Lawrence v. Texas, known as the Texas sodomy case. In this case, homosexuals are trying to have the Texas law against sodomy declared unconstitutional by the Court. In footnote 42 on page 16 of this legal brief, 31 homosexual and pro-homosexual groups admitted the following: "The most widely accepted study of sexual practices in the United States is the National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS). The NHSLS found that 2.8% of the male, and 1.4% of the female, population identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. See Laumann, et al, The Social Organization of Sex: Sexual Practices in the United States (1994). This amounts to nearly 4 million openly gay men and 2 million women who identify as lesbian."

[promethius9594]

oh, heres some more facts for you, you can look up the 2000 census yourself if you dont believe me:

According to Census 2000 figures, there are a total of 106,741,426 households in the U.S., only 00.42% of those are unmarried same-sex households.

if youre going to debate the claim that homosexuals should be allowed to get married, thats fine, but lets at least get the terms and numbers down first...

[Gnarf]

Originally posted by promethius9594: The state's leading gay rights organization, Equality Virginia first off, lets get one thing straight... the gay rights movement is not about "equality" in marraige, we already have that. if any gay man wants to marry a woman, he has the same right as any straight man to do so. the gay marraige movement asserts that there should be an EXPANSION of rights, not an equality of them.

Heh... it's still about equality. Men and women should have the same rights. If men can marry women, then women should be allowed to as well.

[Donut]

Originally posted by promethius9594: oh, heres some more facts for you, you can look up the 2000 census yourself if you dont believe me: According to Census 2000 figures, there are a total of 106,741,426 households in the U.S., only 00.42% of those are unmarried same-sex households. if youre going to debate the claim that homosexuals should be allowed to get married, thats fine, but lets at least get the terms and numbers down first...

Rigggghhttt! That's a fact is it? Perhaps some gays don't declare the fact because of the bigots!

You think?

[promethius9594]

well, the fact that a pro gay legislation attorney cited the poll certainly lends it credence. the fact that you disagree with the numbers doesnt change the fact that its the most valid accounting out there.