On Repeal of Virginia Marriage Amendment

"Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage" - Virginia Marriage Amendment

“What better place to take a stand for equal rights than Virginia, whose greatest leaders defined the very rights we hold dear as Americans?" - David Englin

In what has become the nadir for gay Virginians, the Virginia Marriage Amendment passed with 57% of the vote in 2006, thus denying all gays Fourteenth Amendment rights, the right to equal protection under the law. Frankly speaking, it is absolutely absurd to ever put a civil rights question before voters because civil rights are a matter of constitutional and moral principle, not popular whim. Contrary to popular belief, what has been unique about this great nation of ours is that the legitimacy of the laws are not steeped in the will of the majority. Rather, we derive its legitimacy from the spirit of the Constitution, which does not present the majority as the absolute and final arbiters. The U.S. Constitution sets the tone. It impels us to look beyond our personal prejudices, our life experiences, and beyond our own place in time. Moreover, if the Constitution is more than just a piece of paper, we must continually renew the commitment of liberty, freedom, justice, and equality. No doubt, we are apt to err, but in the error lies the lesson.

Imagine if all of the major civil rights issues over the last century were put before voters! We would be a nation imprisoned by our own sexism, racism, prejudice, elitism, and moral bankruptcy. As a young African American, I dare not imagine. If the Constitution is a document that we truly value and if the liberty and freedom that sustain our national pride are worth defending in Iraq, in Afghanistan, around the world, then are they not worth preserving at home. I think so and I am glad that others think so too.

David Englin [1], Virginia House of Delegates representative, introduced a bill on January 6th [1] that would repeal the Virginia Marriage Amendment, requiring the General Assembly to pass the legislation twice with an intervening election and then be approved by public referendum. In other words, the bill is dead upon arrival, but Englin will not go down without a fight.

“This is an uphill battle in a state like Virginia. However, in light of the setback to equal rights resulting from California’s Proposition 8, now more than ever we need everyone in our country who supports equal rights — no matter what state they live in — to stand up and say that laws denying people equal freedom are wrong and un-American,” said Englin.“What better place to take a stand for equal rights than Virginia, whose greatest leaders defined the very rights we hold dear as Americans? After all, it was a Virginian named George Washington who promised us a government that would give ‘to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance,’ and it was a Virginian named Thomas Jefferson who extolled the self-evident truth that all people are created equal.” [1]

Though, Englin has successfully sponsored a "bill to protect equal rights in hospital visitation passed in 2007, and (a) bill to create a statewide registry of advanced medical directives for same-sex couples to designate partners to make medical decisions passed in 2008 and is due to be launched by April 2009". [1] In a well publicized speech before the General Assembly in 2006, Englin, a straight married Jew, challenged the Virginia Marriage Amendment. [1]

So if this amendment doesn't help protect my marriage, and doesn't help protect my family, and if it doesn't even change the status of same-sex marriage and civil unions and domestic partnership contracts, then what exactly does this amendment do? I submit to my fair-minded colleagues that this amendment sends a message.And that message is, if you are gay, or lesbian, or even a man and a woman living together and committed to each other who are not married, you are not welcome in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

And who are these people whom we are shutting out in the cold? They are my dear friends Karen and Sue, who have been together for years and are as loving and committed to each other as any husband and wife. They are my friend Lou, who served with me at the Pentagon, and continues to serve our country today.They are Father Mychal Judge, the gay priest who died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 while ministering to fallen firefighters. They are Mark Bingham, a gay passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, who fought back against Al Queda hijackers and sacrificed his life to save others.They are Ronald Gamboa and his partner Dan Brandhorst, who, along with their 3 year old son David, were killed when Al Quaeda flew United Airlines Flight 175 into the World Trade Center.They are David Charlebois, the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon when Al Qaeda tried to kill me and my comrades who were on duty inside the Pentagon at the time.They are friends and neighbors and teachers and doctors and soldiers and loving parents who want nothing more than to live life without fear that the government will tear their families apart.

The fight continues.