Today's Virginian Pilot has an article looking at the impact of the anti-gay "Marriage Amendment" passed in Virginia in 2006 and the practice of same sex couples still continuing to get married or hold commitment ceremonies even though the state will not recognize their unions. The piece also has disingenuous quotes from gay-hater extraordinaire, Victoria "Ice Maiden" Cobb (in my opinion, having sex with her would out one at risk of frost bite and amputation) of The Family Foundation, the Virginia affiliate of Daddy Dobson's homophobic Focus on the Family. The moral of the article is that gays WILL persevere with dignity even if those who hate us try to denigrate our relationships. Here are some highlights:*
Buddy Rau says two things nudged him into tying the knot earlier this year: his 40th nniversary with gay partner Kila Chong and the 2006 state constitutional amendment banning gay arriage.
Two years after Virginians passed the amendment, the measure hasn't stopped some same-sex couples from celebrating extra legal holy union or commitment ceremonies at liberal churches.
Two years after Virginians passed the amendment, the measure hasn't stopped some same-sex couples from celebrating extra legal holy union or commitment ceremonies at liberal churches.
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Meanwhile, faith-based advocates of the amendment contend the measure helped preserve Virginia law prohibiting gay marriage and fended off legalization of same-sex unions popping up elsewhere.
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It was a harsh, severe slap in the face," said Glen Coats, who grew up in Chesapeake. "It's filled with vitriolic hate for a certain segment of the population in the way it was worded." Coats, a research analyst, said he and his 16-year partner had a holy union ceremony years ago and had no marriage plans. What they fear, instead, is wording in the amendment they think could allow outsiders to meddle in their wills and affect their ability to inherit property from one another.
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Coats, 54, is so concerned about the potential consequence of that text, he said, that he and his partner might leave Virginia when they retire. "It doesn't feel like home anymore," he said. Same-sex couples who stay can at least have a symbolic, religious union ceremony at churches such as New Life Metropolitan Community Church, The Great Awakening United Church of Christ, Norfolk's Unitarian Church and the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists congregation. All offered union ceremonies before the amendment.
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"Whenever two adults come forward and say, 'We want to do this with the witness of our community and our notion of God,' then of course I want to say, 'Yes, yes, yes, let's do that. Who cares what the state is doing?' " said the Rev. Jennifer Ryu of the Williamsburg church.
"Whenever two adults come forward and say, 'We want to do this with the witness of our community and our notion of God,' then of course I want to say, 'Yes, yes, yes, let's do that. Who cares what the state is doing?' " said the Rev. Jennifer Ryu of the Williamsburg church.
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"We decided that a church that welcomes you, no matter who you are, is a good one to get married in," Chong said. . . . It absolutely meant something to me," Chong said. "I thought that we look to a God who's all-loving." It meant something else as well. "It helped us tell the God-fearing people who voted for the amendment: the heck with you," Chong said. "You don't want us, but we want each other, and our friends want us."
