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| Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who opposes gay marriage and civil unions, said he
tried to amend a law banning any type of civil unions for gay couples to allow
gay couples to enter into private contracts that grant each other rights. (AP
photo)
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: ADRIAN BRUNE COMMENTS
 
RICHMOND, Va. — In an effort to ensure courts
could not force Virginia to recognize civil unions, the Virginia Assembly on
Wednesday overruled by a veto-proof margin Gov. Mark Warner’s amendments to
legislation that he said will strip same-sex couples of their rights to form
any legal contracts resembling marriage.
In a special, one-day session called to address the changes Warner made to
53 bills, lawmakers kept the original version of Del. Robert Marshall’s “Marriage
Affirmation Act,” intact with a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate.
Virginia now has the nation’s most restrictive laws against same-sex partnerships.
“We lost this round,” said Dyana Mason, the executive director of Equality
Virginia. “The legislature just codified second-class citizenship for gays
and lesbians, and set the state back years.”
The new law will abolish the rights of same-sex couples to execute a will,
sign medical directives or craft custodial agreements, Mason warned. Because
each of these “arrangements” grants rights contractually that are otherwise
available through marriage, she said, they can be set aside or voided by the
action of the General Assembly.
Supporters of the bill said it would have no such broad impact on the ability
of gay couples to enter into private contracts with one another.
Warner removed provisions in the bill that outlawed partnership contracts “purporting
to bestow the benefits of marriage,” and left intact sections of the measure
that would restrict the recognition of civil unions from other jurisdictions
in his amendments.
However, both houses of the Assembly rejected the amendments by more than
the votes needed to override any veto from the governor. The margin in each
house was two more than needed for the two-thirds majority, 27-12 in the Senate
and 69-30 in the House of Delegates.
Virginia gay rights activists lobbied hard for the governor’s amendments despite
their overall disagreement with Marshall’s bill. But in the end, Mason said,
conservative groups “circled the wagons and really made this bill a litmus
test for their support.”
The debate inside the Assembly was not always civil.
“Civil unions are a proxy for marriage and domestic partnerships are a proxy
for civil unions,” Marshall said, according to Associated Press. “This has
nothing to do with abrogating the ability of anyone entering into a contract.”
Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria) repeatedly asked Marshall to define the privileges
of marriage and what types of contracts would fall under the bill, to which
Marshall retorted, “I am not accountable for the gentleman’s lack of enlightenment
or understanding,” according to the AP.
House Speaker William J. Howell admonished Marshall and directed him to keep
his remarks civil.
Warner said he made the amendments but wanted to keep the status quo with regard
to same-sex legal relationships in Virginia, believing Marshall’s changes were
unnecessary and contrary to the state constitution. Existing Virginia law prohibits
same-sex marriage, and the recognition of same-sex marriages and civil unions
performed in other states.
“I do not support same-sex marriage, but I have grave doubts about the constitutionality
of this broad wording, and I believe that it could have a host of unintended
consequences,” Warner said in a statement on April 16, when he submitted his
changes to the General Assembly. “I believe it would be regrettable and wrong
if Virginia were to go further than any other state in its efforts to restrict
the rights of people to enter into legal relationships.
“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education
landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down segregated public schools,
the 45th anniversary of the end of Virginia’s egregious policy of ‘Massive
Resistance,’ and the 40th anniversary of the federal Civil Rights Act banning
segregated public facilities. I will not support legislation that again takes
Virginia so far out of the mainstream in terms of public policy.”
Warner’s recent statements marked the first time since the bill’s introduction
that he had actively voiced his reservations. But the Democratic governor chose
not to veto the legislation, believing that the first course of action should
always be to address a bill’s concerns, especially a bill that originally passed
by a two-thirds majority, said Warner’s spokesperson, Ellen Qualls.
In considering his amendments to the Marriage Affirmation Act, or HB 751,
Warner mainly wanted to prevent a constitutional challenge to both this law,
and possibly to the state’s marriage statutes, she added. The governor’s office
consulted several constitutional scholars before recommending its adjustments.
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