You Are What You Vote For
That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.
This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. 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.
Wording of HB101, the Virginia constitutional amendment given final approval by the House of Delegates. The full wording of the amendment will go on the Virginia ballot in November.
This changes the question from an empty exercise into a punishing one. Try as the advocates might to deny it, there are legitimate worries about whether such sweeping, imprecise language will make it harder to prosecute boyfriends for domestic violence that falls within a relationship, but outside of marriage. Custody agreements might become unenforceable. The very validity of basic contracts drawn up between unmarried people is undoubtedly under threat.
No matter your opinion of gay marriage, that’s a pernicious paragraph that tells a lot of Virginians they’re no longer welcome here. (source)
No kidding. But you know, it doesn’t really matter if they vote for it or not. You are, as a state, what your constitution says that you are. That is what you believe in. If the people of Virginia truly believe that gay couples are the total scum of the earth, then they should vote for this amendment. That will be their values. They may lose citizenship, or they may not. Doesn’t a state have a right to be a fascist bigoted entity, if it’s citizenry so desires?
That’s a totally serious question, devoid of emotion. Logically, it seems they should have that right. I used to say such nonsensical statements as “.. but that’s unconstitutional..”, but no one is really looking at the Constitution anymore anyway. The U.S. Supreme Court in it’s current makeup, will most likely not hear a challenge to anything Virginia, or Texas, or Kansas, or Idaho, or any other state does in the area of gays being able to marry. By not hearing the case, they let the ruling stand, thereby not giving the Constitution itself it’s day in court.
Given that state of affairs, I suppose we should be happy that some states aren’t trying to pass constitutional amendments calling for the execution of homosexuals by lethal injection. Once extremists smell blood in the water, they won’t stop with one “achievement”.
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I wouldn't worry too much if a US state did pass a constitutional amendment calling for the execution of gays. Under European Union law, assylum seekers cannot be sent back to their home country if they face the risk of death, physical mutilation or other "cruel or unusual punishment" (as your constitution describes it). So if any US state did manage to pass such a law, you'd be very welcome here.
I'm sure the Canadians would feel similarly generous, and they've legalised Gay marriage. Of course, not all EU states have Gay Marriage/Civil Unions yet (only about half of them) but we're working on it!
Oh, and regarding Bush:
* he set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest a single person (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any one person in the history of mankind.
* he took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world
* he withdrew the USA from the World Court Of Law.
* he is the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board.
* he is the first president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation - in fact, he enjoyed it so much he did it twice and is thinking about doing it again.
* he is the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view him as the biggest threat to world peace and stability
* he did all this before he was re-elected!!!
I agree completely with you. The Christofascists will not stop until we (and eventually anyone who does not follow their fairy-tale mythology) are all in death camps. I fear for my country and its slide into what is increasingly resembling Germany in the 1930s.
But I often wonder if this is, in fact, necessary. We need to see the hateful, intolerant underbelly of our society at its worst and collectively vomit up all the hate that's been churning in our country in order to finally purge ourselves of it.
But this too shall pass. Remember that no dictatorship in the world has ever lasted. Even if Bush and the pew-lemmings manage to totally destroy everything this country was founded on and enjoy years of absolute control, eventually the tide will turn. The United States may bear little resemblence to what it did prior to Bush, but human life will go on. Bush wanted a legacy. He's certainly achieved it: one of the most hated men in history.