Aug 18, 2006  |  By: ELIZABETH A. PERRY  | COMMENTS     

One of the key arguments cited by gay rights activists opposing a Virginia amendment to ban gay marriage is that the measure would threaten domestic violence laws as they pertain to unmarried couples in the state.

Opponents claim that what happened in Ohio, where judges have overturned state domestic violence laws, could happen in Virginia if the amendment passes this fall.

Eight cases were brought before Ohio courts involving unmarried couples that challenged domestic violence laws. Six of those decisions upheld domestic violence laws, but judges in the other two cases declared the laws unconstitutional. Both cases are now in the appellate court.

Officials at Family Foundation Action, which operates the Va4Marriage.org website, contend the likelihood that unmarried Virginians will have their domestic violence protections taken away is unfounded. Representatives did not respond to calls this week, but according to the group’s website, most of the challenges in the trial courts in Ohio were reversed and that “what happens in Ohio is irrelevant to Virginia.”

“Virginia is in better legal shape than Ohio,” the statement said. “Ohio’s law refers to ‘spouses,’ but Virginia’s domestic violence laws are not based on marriage, but instead are based on ‘households.’

“Virginia law clearly defines the ‘class of victims’ of domestic violence as any ‘household member’ who ‘cohabitates’ or ‘resides’ with another person,” the group contends. “It has no reference to marriage or, in fact, any relationship at all between the two people who reside together.”

Greg Nevins, senior staff attorney with Lambda Legal Defense Fund’s Southern regional office, said Citizens for Community Values, one of the groups that campaigned for the Ohio Marriage Amendment, is now also arguing that the amendment invalidates domestic violence protections for unmarried couples. He said Virginians should be wary.

“I have to expect it won’t invalidate domestic protections in court,” he said. “But people have to know they might have to fight in court to get the protections they have now.”

A real threat?

Stacy Ruble, advocacy coordinator of the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance, said the threat of having domestic violence protections taken away from unmarried couples is a real one.

“Our concern is for all of those who will be hurt between when the amendment passes and when the Supreme Court makes a decision — that’s if they decide domestic violence laws are OK the way they are,” she said.

“If not, we will need to develop a long-range plan to protect domestic violence victims. In the short term, if it passes we will have to create a plan to address legal battles, educate advocates, legal aid attorneys and Commonwealth attorneys and look at how to serve victims,” she said.

Ruble said the procedure for responding to domestic violence complaints involves a police officer going to the victim’s home, filing a report, arresting the perpetrator and transporting the victim to a safe place, if needed. At that point the victim can get a protective order against his or her abuser, which indicates where the abuser can and cannot go in relation to the victim.

“If domestic violence laws can only cover married couples, the most the police can do is charge [the abuser] with simple assault and battery,” she said. “There is no protective order or transportation to a safe place. If the victim makes it to a shelter, they will stay longer because there is no protective order.”

Ruble said businesses and apartment complexes can file no trespassing charges against an abuser, but they are not as effective as a protective order. “You don’t have an automatic arrest if someone breaks a no trespassing law,” she said.

Ruble said that although Virginia maintains statistics for domestic violence rates in general, the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance does not have any statistics for domestic violence cases within same-sex households because victims are often reluctant to reveal information about their sexual orientation.

“People don’t want to out themselves because they are afraid they won’t get good services,” said Ruble. “In general, when you are not sure what kind of climate you are walking into, you are not going to out yourself when you are not sure if you will be ostracized.”