PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD  |  WHERE TO FIND THE BLADE    |   WASHBLADE ON MYSPACE    |   RSS  
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008
 
Please login or create a new account
  ?
Holiday Gift Guide - Issue One
HOME
CLASSIFIEDS
AUTO GUIDE

THE LATEST
BLADEWIRE
BLADEBLOG
BLOGWATCH
NEWS
 LOCAL
 NATIONAL
 WORLD NEWS
 VIEWPOINT
 ENTERTAINMENT
 ECLIPSE
 OUT IN DC
 CALENDARS
 FITNESS BY GENRE
 BITCH SESSION














EMAIL UPDATES
New to email
updates? Then click here to find out more.
email address

subscribe
unsubscribe
I have read and agree to our terms
and conditions
.


ADVERTISING
GENERAL INFO
E-EDITION
MARKETING

ABOUT US
ABOUT THE BLADE
MASTHEAD
EMPLOYMENT

 

 

 


A bill inspired by gay Virginia residents Kelly Young (right) and Bill Reinsmith that would have allowed private employers to provide insurance provisions for employees’ partners, failed in committee. (Blade file photo by Henry Linser)


MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR
CHRIS JOHNSON





Printer-friendly Version

Letter to the Editor

Sound Off about this article







 

MORE LOCAL

Catania may push marriage bill in Jan.
Some fear time isn’t right after Prop 8’s success

Equality Md. names new executive director
Lesbian will ‘move forward with marriage equality’ in state

Two gay Obama supporters assaulted near White House

D.C. Council to hold hearing on hate crimes

D.C. police shoot, kill gay man in townhouse

Local news in brief
22 gay incumbents re-elected to ANCs

Obituary
Bill Gillespie, 62

Police log


LOCAL

Medical registry bill passes Va. House
Other pro-gay legislation dead for this session

CHRIS JOHNSON
Friday, February 15, 2008

Gay rights advocates in Virginia tasted success when the House of Delegates approved a medical registry bill Tuesday, but encountered defeat after a number of other bills went up in flames.

The House passed the medical registry legislation, House Bill 805, by a vote of 95-4. The bill, sponsored by Del. David Englin (D-Alexandria), would set up a state registry for living wills and advanced medical directives.

The documents would express an individual’s wishes in advance regarding medical treatment in case the individual was incapacitated. Those in same-sex relationships could designate their partner as the person who would make medical decisions on their behalf.

Englin said he is pleased that the House approved the legislation “with such strong bipartisan support.”

Four Republicans voted against the legislation: Kathy Byron (R-Campbell County), Clarke Hogan (R-South Boston), Bill Janis (R-Glen Allen) and Sam Nixon (R-Chesterfield).

A spokesperson from Byron’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Byron voted against the bill because “she doesn’t think that the Department of Health should be regulating this or adding another responsibility to its already pretty big plate.”

The spokesperson said Byron’s biggest concern was that users would have to remember a pass code to access the registry.

The committees that read the legislation made changes before the bill came to the House floor. The Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee approved a substitute mandating that Virginia send annual notices to people who filed directives to remind them that such documents are in place.

Also, the substitute changes the fees for filing a directive. The original bill called for a $10 fee for filing a document, but the substitute bill leaves the decision of the fee amount to a regulatory board.
On Feb. 8, the Appropriations Committee approved another substitute that would allow the Health Department to solicit federal or private funds to maintain the registry.

After approving the bill, the House sent it to the Senate, where it awaits evaluation. The Senate already approved on Jan. 29 an almost identical piece of legislation, Senate Bill 290, sponsored by Sen. George Barker (D-Fairfax).

Other legislation failed to meet the approval of legislators. A Counties, Cities and Towns subcommittee voted on Feb. 6 to pass by indefinitely on a bill that would have allowed Fairfax County to add sexual orientation to Human Rights Ordinance concerning hiring practices, which is applicable to both public and private employers.

The subcommittee decision to pass by indefinitely on the bill, H.B. 675, means that the body will not look at it again for the remainder of the legislative session. Del. Charles Poindexter (R-Franklin County) offered the motion, which was approved with four Republicans voting “yes” and two Democrats voting “no.”

Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), the sponsor of the bill, said he had introduced the legislation about a half-dozen times before.

“I keep hoping we’re going to make progress because certainly I think the progress has been in the general public,” Plum said.

The Virginia Family Foundation and the Virginia Catholic Conference testified against the bill before the subcommittee.

Jeff Caruso, executive director of the Catholic Conference, said his organization “opposes unjust discrimination of any individual,” but also said “there’s a just and necessary distinction to be made between a marital relationship on the one hand and other forms of voluntary relationships on the other.”

The Catholic Conference is the representative of the two Catholic dioceses in Virginia on public policy matters. Caruso said the bill would have interfered with how the dioceses run their schools.

Caruso said if a Virginia Catholic school discovered that a teacher “was living with a same-sex partner, then that would be something that really wouldn’t be in synch with the values of the employing institution.”

“The schools should be free to make decisions that are in accord with their own values and their own mission,” he said.

Another bill sponsored by gay legislator Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) failed in subcommittee Feb. 7. The bill, H.B. 865, would have allowed private employers to extend life insurance policies to same-sex partners.

A Commerce and Labor subcommittee made a motion to report the bill favorably. Four Democrats and one Republican voted in favor of the bill, but six Republicans voted against the bill.

Ebbin said he was disappointed the bill failed despite support from the insurance industry.

“It was clear that the bill was permissive — it wouldn’t require anyone to do anything,” he said.

The legislation was inspired by an Arlington resident’s inability to take out a life insurance policy on his same-sex partner. Kelly Young, an H5 Technologies lawyer, attempted to take advantage of his company’s insurance benefits to take out a policy on his partner of almost 10 years, Bill Reinsmith. H5’s insurance company told Young that Virginia law prevented the company from allowing Young to take out a policy on his partner.

Young said he was “disappointed” that the subcommittee did not approve the bill and attributed its failure to the Republican control of the House.

Other bills sponsored by Del. Jim Scott (D-Falls Church) failed because the House did not take any action on them by the Feb. 12 deadline. One bill was H.B. 36, which would have prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for housing.

The other bill is H.B. 1415, which would have allowed local governments to offer health insurance benefits to same-sex couples. The Senate on Jan. 23 had already approved a version of the latter bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-Arlington) and numbered S.B. 51.


 

email   password
The following comments were posted by our readers and were not edited by the Washington Blade.  We ask that you treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will be removed.


 

national | local | world | arts | classifieds | real estate | about us

© 2008 | A Window Media LLC Publication | Privacy Policy