Dec 03, 2004  |  By: ADRIAN BRUNE  | COMMENTS     

Following the lead of 13 other states that enacted constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage this year, the Virginia legislature plans to consider its own amendment next month, despite sweeping state laws that already prohibit gay marriage.

Del. John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) has announced his intent to introduce HJ 528 when the 2005 session opens on Jan. 12. Cosgrove drafted HJ 528 to amend Article I, Section 16-A of the Virginia Constitution by adding two sentences stipulating that a “marriage may exist only between one man and one woman.”

The proposed legislation further states that no provision of the Virginia Constitution should be interpreted to require the state to permit or recognize same-sex unions of any kind, thus preventing state judges from requiring the state to enact other forms of legal recognition for gay couples, including civil unions.

To some Virginia legislators and gay residents of the state, the addition of yet another measure preventing gays from marrying in Virginia seems redundant. To social conservatives, it emerges as a necessary means of ensuring same-sex unions are never recognized by the state.

“Unfortunately, legislation that uses the ‘boogeyman’ of gay marriage in Virginia has done quite well, and [2005] is an election year,” said Adam Ebbin (D-Arlington), who said he expected the bill as a political maneuver. “With the redistricting of the state and the tax changes, moderate Republicans face a real challenge from the far right. They are running scared.”

Republicans in the Virginia Legislature did, however, score a significant victory last year with the implementation of the Marriage Affirmation Act — the nation’s first ban on civil unions — which went as far as to strictly curtail legal agreements between people of the same sex.

Though the new law mobilized a large contingent of previously quiescent gay Virginians to take to the streets in protest, those same newly minted activists now face a double-whammy: overturning the Marriage Affirmation Act and blocking the ratification of a marriage amendment.

Gay activists say they plan to go to Richmond in January prepared for not only Cosgrove’s bill, but other copycat amendments.

“We have already launched efforts to stop this and we will not rest until this hateful attempt is stopped,” said Joseph Price, an attorney and the board chair of Equality Virginia, the state’s largest gay rights group, in a statement. Price asserted that leaders and supporters of gay rights in Virginia have been meeting over the past several months to strategize a comprehensive statewide education campaign to combat the legislation.

“This amendment is no more than a political trick aimed at dividing the citizens of Virginia,” he said. Equality Virginia has scheduled a lobbying day for Jan. 13, the day after the session begins.

But the opposition will also arrive primed — and riding the crest of Election Day approval of same-sex marriage bans in 11 states.

The Virginia Family Foundation, a powerful social conservative lobbying organization, and Del. Cosgrove did not return calls by press time.

Some moderate legislators and constitutional law scholars acknowledged the watershed impact from the success of amendments in such states as Ohio, Michigan and Oregon — the one state where gay-rights activists hoped to prevail. Many begrudgingly admitted that, thanks to the nationwide support, anti-gay rights groups have an unforeseen advantage.

“If it passed in Michigan and it passed in Oregon, then I believe that if it gets on the ballot, it will surely pass in Virginia,” said Michael Klarman, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Virginia. “This amendment is all political. Every state must honor the full-faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, but states have long had an exception for public policy, which virtually no court would ignore.”

Gov. Mark Warner has indicated that, while he does not support same-sex marriage, he does not believe in extending restrictions beyond those already in place, according to a spokesperson.

‘Unfortunately, legislation that uses the boogeyman of gay marriage in Virginia has done quite well,’ said trong>Adam Ebbin (D-Arlington), a gay member of the state Assembly.

Though the social climate in Virginia favors Cosgrove’s proposed amendment, state protocol requires numerous steps for changes to the state ...