Adam
Ebbin
knows
he
must
pick
his
battles
in
the
Virginia
General
Assembly
carefully.
As
the
only
openly
gay
lawmaker
in
the
state
legislature,
he
cannot
effectively
fight
each
of
the
growing
list
of
anti-gay
bills.
But
this
week,
after
listening
to
conservative
lawmakers
claim
that
gays
are
destroying
heterosexual
marriages,
the
freshman
delegate
delivered
an
impassioned
speech
to
his
colleagues.
“I
cannot
stand
by
while
this
body
uses
gays
and
lesbians
as
scapegoats
for
what
has
happened
to
the
institution
of
marriage,”
Ebbin
said
in
prepared
remarks
on
the
House
floor.
“What
are
we
defending
marriage
from?
Are
we
defending
it
from
the
high
heterosexual
divorce
rate
by
seeing
that
we
will
never
grant
civil
unions?
Are
we
defending
marriage
from
the
criminal
offense
of
adultery?
No,
we
are
not.
…
This
is
all
about
politics
and
re-election
campaigns.
The
measure
before
us
addresses
none
of
the
threats
or
challenges
that
husbands
and
wives
face
today.”
Despite
Ebbin’s
pleas,
the
House
of
Delegates
this
week
approved
a
constitutional
amendment
that
would
ban
gay
marriage
by
a
78-18
vote.
The
Senate
voted
Monday
30-10
in
favor
of
its
version
of
the
amendment.
The
General
Assembly
must
approve
the
amendment
again
during
the
2006
legislative
session
before
it
can
go
to
Virginia
voters
in
November
of
that
year.
Despite
a
record
number
of
anti-gay
bills
passed
by
the
House
of
Delegates,
ranging
from
the
prohibition
of
gay
adoptions
to
a
measure
that
would
introduce
license
plates
touting
“traditional
marriage,”
Ebbin
says
that
his
spirits
remain
high.
“I
feel
good,”
he
said.
“You
sit
here
and
listen
to
the
bad
legislation
—
which
is
not
just
targeted
to
gays
and
lesbians
—
but
the
things
we
do,
to
immigrants
and
others
…
It
is
difficult
not
to
speak
up
all
the
time
because
freshmen
don’t
talk
too
much.
I
said
I
was
going
to
stand
up
against
anti-gay,
anti-immigrant
and
anti-common
sense
legislation
but
you
have
to
pick
and
choose.
“I
knew
this
[constitutional
amendment]
was
coming
up
and
I
had
time
to
think
about
what
I
was
saying.
There’s
something
very
empowering
having
that
microphone
on
the
House
floor
and
being
able
to
speak.
I’m
naturally
talkative
but
it
takes
a
lot
of
discipline
not
to
stand
up
and
shout
every
time
there
is
an
absurdity.
And
there
is
a
lot
of
it.”
Anti-gay
rhetoric
has
exploded
in
Virginia
this
year,
as
conservative
lawmakers
appear
buoyed
by
last
November’s
election
results
in
which
11
state
amendments
banning
gay
marriage
—
and
in
some
instances
any
type
of
gay
union
—
passed
overwhelmingly.
Dyana
Mason,
executive
director
of
Equality
Virginia,
said
that
the
fusillade
of
anti-gay
bills
introduced
thus
far
in
the
2005
session
indicates
that
Virginia
is
quickly
becoming
the
most
anti-gay
state
in
the
country.
“Personally,
I
think
they
are
trying
to
cash
in
on
what
they
see
as
a
mandate
from
this
last
election
and
I
think
they
are
obviously
going
too
far
and
if
they
continue
to
proceed
at
this
pace,
we
will
be
the
most
anti-gay
state
in
the
U.S.,”
Mason
said.
The
anti-gay
bills
this
year
have
taken
on
a
particularly
nasty
tone,
especially
after
last
year’s
Assembly
passed
the
Marriage
Affirmation
Act,
a
measure
that
not
only
bans
gay
unions,
but
outlaws
legal
agreements
between
residents
of
the
same
sex
that
resemble
marriage
rights.
HB
2921,
the
adoption
bill,
requires
that
the
circuit
court
ask
would-be
parents
if
they
are
“known
to
engage
in
current
voluntary
homosexual
activity”
or
are
“unmarried
and
cohabiting
with
another
adult
to
whom
he
is
not
related
by
blood
or
marriage.”
The
measure
passed
the
House
and
has
been
referred
to
a
Senate
committee.
Another
measure,
which
sought
to
ban
gay/straight
alliances
in
public
schools,
was
modified
by
the
House
to
give
such
authority
to
individual
school
boards
as
opposed
to
the
state.
In
one
positive
development
for
Virginia
gays,
the
state
Senate
killed
a
bill
that
would
have
allowed
local
congregations
to
secede
from
a
church
or
diocese
yet
retain
its
local
property,
including
real
estate.
Critics
of
the
bill
contend
it
was
drafted
in
response
to
the
2003
consecration
of
the
first
openly
gay
Episcopal
bishop.
Bishop
V.
Gene
Robinson’s
consecration
angered
many
Episcopalians,
many
of
whom
also
protested
the
church’s
decision
to
allow
blessing
ceremonies
for
same-sex
couples.
The
anti-gay
rhetoric
and
flurry
of
legislative
activity
has
prompted
some
Virginia
gays
to
leave
the
state.
Chris
Elkins
and
his
partner,
Gene
Hannold
of
Fredericksburg,
plan
to
move
by
the
end
of
August.
“We
know
three
other
couples
who
have
made
the
same
decision
we
have,”
Elkins
said.
“It’s
not
widely
publicized
but
we
are
all
retired
and
can
leave.
We
don’t
have
to
stay
here
and
support
our
own
oppression.”
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