Thom points out a horrifying setback that most of us had missed: the incredibly discriminatory and hate-filled “Marriage Affirmation Act” that’s been ratified here in my home, Virginia. This disgusting legislation not only prohibits same-sex marriage, it actually outlaws any marriage-like benefits!
In an outrageous and short-sighted defeat for fairness and common-sense, the General Assembly today ratified the so-called “Marriage Affirmation Act,” one of the most discriminatory pieces of legislation to be considered by the General Assembly in decades.
By a vote of 69-30 in the House and 27-12 in the Senate, the General Assembly narrowly missed garnering a 1/3 vote in each house that would have killed the bill outright. Delegate Robert Marshall (R-Manassas), patron of the bill, led the charge with a barrage of anti-gay rhetoric during the floor debate.
… HB 751 not only prohibits the state from recognizing civil unions (which it already didn’t do), but strips private contractual rights between same-sex couples by outlawing any “partnership contract or other arrangements that purport to provide the benefits of marriage.”
This means that a gay couple can no longer create a legal framework through a power of attorney or, more astounding, health care — in Virginia, private companies are prohibited from giving health insurance benefits to same-sex partners.
I often ask myself why I continue to live here where I was born, in a state that hates me so much. I also ask that question on a national level as well. I can’t decide whether it would be better to leave my state or ultimately my country, or stay here and fight. The fight seems to be harder and harder every day.
What can I say, but “wow.” I hope you don’t mind that I linked to this entry in my journal.
Another thing that makes me really angry about this, though I forgot to mention this in my own post, is that we’re sitting here in Virginia two months before the end of the fiscal year without a budget because the legislature hasn’t yet passed one. Yet they apparently have all the time in the world to pass this crap.