Bills Introduced in Virginia General Assembly to Repeal Gay Marriage Ban

State Senator Adam Ebbin

With two federal lawsuits underway in Virginia to strike down the vile Marshall-Newman Amendment to the Bill of Rights Section of the Virginia Constitution - that's right, anti-gay discrimination was written into the Bill of Rights - Virginia's ban on same sex marriage is likely facing a well deserved death.  But  at least two Virginia legislators also seek to begin the legislative death knell for religious based anti-gay bigotry.  They have thus introduced a bill to be taken up in the 2014 session of the Virginia General Assembly.  The prospect of the legislation passing the House of Delegates which is little more than an arm of the foul theocrats at The Family Foundation is likely slim to none.  The Washington Blade looks at this development.  Here are article highlights:

Two Virginia lawmakers on Monday introduced bills that seek to repeal a state constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage.

Gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and state Del. Joseph Morrissey (D-Henrico) introduced identical bills in their respective legislative chambers.

A referendum on whether to repeal the amendment would take place in November 2016 only if members of the General Assembly approve Ebbin and Morrissey’s bills during the 2014 and 2016 legislative sessions. A Virginia House of Delegate subcommittee in January killed a proposal that state Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) introduced seeking to repeal the commonwealth’s gay nuptials ban.  Surovell is expected to co-sponsor Morrissey’s measure.

“Change is coming across the country and eventually we’ll have marriage equality in Virginia,” Ebbin told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. “The road to marriage equality in Virginia might not be a short one, but we’ve got to make sure we’re on our way.”

Timothy Bostic and Tony London of Norfolk filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban a few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court found a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and issued a ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8. Carol Schall and Mary Townley of Richmond joined the case in September as attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, who successfully argued against California’s Proposition 8 before the U.S. Supreme Court, took up the case.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Virginia in August filed a class action federal lawsuit on behalf of two lesbian couples who are seeking marriage rights in the commonwealth.

A poll that Greenberg Quinlan Research and Target Point Consulting conducted on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign in late June found 55 percent of Virginians back marriage rights for same-sex couples.

The Christofascists and their political whores in the GOP are fighting a losing rear guard action against modernity and the expansion of equality.   Whether it is via court rulings or legislative action, gay equality is inevitable.

Yours truly with Plaintiffs Carol Schall and Mary Townley