The
state’s
gay
leaders
are
calling
on
Virginia
Gov.
Tim
Kaine
to
make
sure
voters
know
what
they’re
voting
on
in
November
when
they
decide
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
all
forms
of
legal
recognition
for
gay
couples,
including
marriage,
civil
unions
and
domestic
partnerships.
Before
Virginia’s
proposed
constitutional
amendment-—-called
the
"most
draconian"
in
the
country
by
some
gay
activists-—-can
be
decided
by
voters,
Kaine
has
to
sign
accompanying
legislation
sending
it
to
the
ballot.
Kaine,
a
Democrat
who
was
sworn
into
office
this
month,
has
already
gained
national
recognition
after
he
was
chosen
by
party
leaders
to
deliver
the
response
to
President
Bush’s
State
of
the
Union
speech
next
week.
Kaine’s
office
has
indicated
he
will
sign
the
bill,
an
act
the
governor
views
as
procedural,
after
the
state
Senate
approved
the
measure
28-11
on
Jan.
25.
The
governor,
although
elected
with
the
backing
of
most
of
the
state’s
gay
groups,
opposes
gay
marriage
and
civil
unions.
He
has
said
he
supports
the
first
line
of
the
amendment,
which
limits
marriage
to
a
union
between
one
man
and
one
woman.
But
Kaine
does
not
support
the
additional
language,
said
Kaine
spokeswoman
Delacey
Skinner,
which
also
bans
other
forms
of
recognition
that
"approximate
marriage."
"He
was
not
comfortable
with
[the
current
amendment]
language,"
Skinner
said
last
week.
"He
preferred
language
that
was
not
as
broad."
When
asked
if
Kaine
would
try
to
amend
the
ballot
language,
Skinner
said,
"Right
now
he
is
talking
to
his
staff
to
get
the
full
briefing
on
procedural
matters
with
constitutional
amendments.
I
am
sure
that
when
we
get
to
the
point
of
actually
having
the
bill
on
his
desk
that
he
will
make
clear
what
his
plans
are."
Role
is
in
question
The
governor’s
role
in
the
constitutional
amendment
process
is
unclear,
as
historically
his
signature
on
the
measure
sending
it
to
the
ballot
is
largely
procedural.
A
staff
attorney
with
Legislative
Services
at
the
Virginia
General
Assembly
said
it
is
not
clear
if
a
governor’s
ability
to
amend
and
veto
all
bills
extends
to
the
authorizing
legislation
that
places
constitutional
amendments
on
the
ballot.
The
issue
could
be
litigated
if
the
governor
were
to
veto
or
amend
the
bill,
she
said.
Joseph
Price,
general
counsel
to
Equality
Virginia,
said
that
Kaine
can
veto,
amend,
sign
or
line-item
veto
the
bill
that
sends
the
amendment
to
the
ballot.
"The
governor
should
veto
the
ballot
legislation,"
said
Price.
"The
state
of
Virginia
does
not
need
to
add
discriminatory
language,
and
the
ballot
legislation
does
not
in
any
way
truthfully
report
what
this
amendment
will
do
if
it’s
passed."
Equality
Virginia,
as
an
organization,
has
not
yet
issued
a
statement
about
what
Kaine
should
do,
said
Dyana
Mason,
the
group’s
executive
director.
It
has,
however,
launched
a
bipartisan
grassroots
campaign
to
defeat
the
measure.
The
coalition
will
be
comprised
of
people
who
support
equal
marriage
rights,
as
well
as
those
who
just
oppose
the
amendment,
she
said.
Many
fear
the
constitutional
amendment’s
possible
far-reaching
consequences-—-like
stripping
unmarried
couples
of
domestic
violence
protections,
contracting
rights
and
health
benefits-—-will
be
obscured
by
the
simple
ballot
language.
House
and
Senate
efforts
to
limit
the
amendment’s
scope
and
ensure
it
couldn’t
be
used
to
deny
rights
beyond
marriage
were
defeated.
A
Senate
committee
approved
ballot
language
that
is
more
descriptive
than
the
House
version
but
still
falls
short
of
capturing
the
amendment’s
breadth,
critics
say.
The
Senate’s
ballot
language
says
the
amendment
prohibits
anything
that
"approximates
marriage."
Gay
leaders
look
to
Kaine
"I
do
believe
Governor
Kaine
has
an
important
role
to
play
in
ensuring
transparency
and
honesty
in
language
that
appears
on
the
ballot,"
said
Jay
Fisette,
an
openly
gay
member
of
the
Arlington
County
Board.
"He
has
an
obligation
to
ensure
voters
know
the
full
breadth
of
what
they’re
being
asked
to
vote
on."
Josh
Israel,
president
of
the
Virginia
Partisans
Gay
&
Lesbian
Democratic
Club,
agreed,
saying
that
Kaine
"has
some
say
in
how
the
amendment
gets
phrased."
While
it
seems
fairly
certain
that
the
amendment
will
go
to
voters
in
November,
some
gay
rights
advocates
said
Kaine
should
veto
the
bill
that
sends
the
measure
to
the
ballot.
"We’re
currently
working
with
our
members
in
Virginia
to
pressure
Kaine
not
to
sign
the
amendment
to
the
ballot
or,
at
the
very
least,
to
strip
it
of
its
harshest
language,"
said
John
Marble,
director
of
communications
for
the
National
Stonewall
Democrats.
"Any
approval
of
an
anti-marriage
amendment
would
be
an
act
of
moral
cowardice
and
not
representative
of
Democratic
values."
Kaine,
Marble
said,
should
make
the
amendment
"a
moral
issue"
and
refuse
to
sign
it
based
on
"equal
rights."
Marble
added
that
Kaine
is
"well
outside
the
mainstream
of
the
Democratic
Party
in
support
of
this
amendment."
However,
on
most
other
issues
he
is
representative
of
the
party
and
an
appropriate
choice
to
deliver
the
Democratic
response
to
Bush’s
State
of
the
Union,
Marble
said.
Damien
LaVera,
a
DNC
spokesperson,
agreed
that
Kaine
was
the
right
person
to
present
the
Democrats’
response.
When
asked
to
comment
on
Kaine’s
support
for
parts
of
the
amendment,
LaVera
said
it
...
