Aug 11, 2006  |  By: ELIZABETH A. PERRY  | COMMENTS     

The American Psychological Association will move its meetings out of Virginia because of the possible impact of the Affirmation of Marriage Act and a proposed gay marriage ban on its members and their domestic partners.

The APA announced July 21 that governance meetings scheduled to be held in Virginia in 2007 and 2008 will be moved to Washington, D.C.

“Some of our staff are gay and lesbian,” said Clinton Anderson, staff liaison of the APA’s Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Concerns office. “They expressed concerns that hospitals and emergency rooms might not honor powers of attorney. People felt unsafe in their lives about meeting in Virginia.”

The APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Concerns expressed its unease about the marriage act, as well as Virginia’s proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage, saying that the “specific impact of the Virginia law is difficult to know — actual cases will determine its ultimate impact.”

“CLGBC has strong concerns that facilities in the state might refuse to honor legal documents, such as a medical power of attorney, between non-married partners,” the statement reads. “The fear is that hospitals in the state might construe such documents that have been executed by gay or lesbian couples as prohibited by state law and thus refuse to honor them.” 

Anderson said the committee took two years to make a decision about whether to move its meetings out of Virginia. When the Affirmation of Marriage Act was passed in 2004, the group decided to advocate its support for gay marriage, while keeping its meetings in Virginia. But when the amendment to ban gay marriage was put on the ballot for the upcoming November election, the group faced a tough decision.

“People felt there wasn’t much of a hope for our being in there and having an impact,” he said. “We didn’t want to punish Virginia, especially since some of the counties are gay-friendly.”

He insisted the APA’s action does not constitute a boycott of Virginia, but is motivated out of concern for APA members and staff. When asked if the association would go back to holding its meetings in Virginia if the amendment fails this fall, Anderson said he did not know.

“The original law still exists,” he said. “It won’t be overturned or removed. We are unlikely to go back to Virginia until [the Affirmation of Marriage Act] is repealed. Just having the amendment not pass would not change our decision at this point.”

The Marriage Affirmation Act makes illegal any “partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage.” Opponents of the law argue that it invalidates personal contracts entered into by gay couples, including wills, medical powers of attorney and more.

Several groups called for a boycott of Virginia by businesses and tourists after the Marriage Affirmation Act passed, with little lasting result.

Martha Steger, public relations director for the Virginia Office of Tourism, said she was unaware of the APA’s decision to relocate its meetings but that her office is not concerned.

“I don’t think one example is indicative of a trend,” she said. “It would be speculative at this point.”

She said the tourism office works with convention and visitors bureaus and resorts all over Virginia and she has not heard of any groups that are refusing to come to the state or are relocating to other states because of gay marriage.

“We have been contacted by gays who have said they have been coming to Virginia for a long time and know that people are welcoming,” she said. “People on both sides of the issue have e-mailed us in the past two or three years. I’ve gotten maybe six isolated e-mails in two years. It’s just interesting that some people take the legislative aspect more seriously than others.”

Bad for business?

Ray Warren, an Arlington County resident and head of the Virginia Way, hopes more Virginia organizations and businesses will mount an economic protest against the amendment effort. He said other organizations have taken a stand in other states and affected change through economics.

“In South Carolina, there was a controversy over flying the Confederate flag over the Capitol,” he said. “The NAACP called for a boycott that was widely observed and hurt the state badly. Why take a chance with an amendment when it is so hard to undo the damage?  We would have to go back to the amendment process to fix it.”

Warren is a former judge and conservative Republican state senator. He is now on a two-month leave from his ...