Feb 24, 2006  |  By: ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG  | COMMENTS     

Amid fears that voters would misunderstand the scope of Virginia’s proposed marriage amendment, the Senate and House voted unanimously this week to include the full text of the amendment on the November ballot.

Gay rights supporters said the previous ballot language misrepresented the scope of the amendment, which many contend would prohibit any legal recognition or protection for gay and unmarried straight couples alike.

"We’re very pleased," said Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia. "The most important thing is voters know exactly what they’re voting on."

The full text of the amendment reads: "That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by the 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."

The House ballot language had previously only stated: "Question:-Shall Article I (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to state, in part, 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’ and to add provisions relating to the legal status of other relationships?"

The bill that places the amendment on the ballot is now on its way to the governor’s desk, Mason said. Gov. Tim Kaine (D) has said the amendment is too broad and that he only supports the first line, which limits marriage to a man and a woman.

Kaine’s office has previously indicated that the governor plans to sign the bill sending the question to voters, but that he was still investigating his authority over the legislation. The governor’s role in the amendment process is seen as ceremonial but some gay rights activists have called on Kaine to veto the enabling legislation.

Committees oppose ban
In another development, the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee both removed sexual orientation from an employment discrimination provision included in the state budget.

Former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner included a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation for state employees in his budget proposal. If approved by the General Assembly, those protections would have had the force of law.

Warner also modified Executive Order One to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation for state workers. Kaine signed the order when he took office earlier this year. The executive order remains in effect despite actions on the budget.

Members of Equality Virginia may ask the governor to reinsert the language into the budget or try to introduce an amendment to the budget, Mason said.

Funeral protest prohibitions
Virginia is now considering a bill to classify any disruption of a funeral or memorial service as disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Other states are proposing similar legislation.

The legislative action comes in response to a series of protests staged by members of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church targeting funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and even the funeral of civil rights icon Coretta Scott King. Rev. Fred Phelps and his small group of followers — mostly family members — blame pro-gay U.S. policies for the military casualties in Iraq and criticized King for her support of gay rights initiatives.

Virginia’s bill, HB 372 sponsored by Del. Charles W. Carrico (R-District 5), passed the House unanimously and has moved on to the Senate Committee for Courts & Justice.