Virginia: The ultimate state of homophobia

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Virginia: The ultimate state of homophobia

Whereas other states that are discomfited by the notion of gay marriage or civil unions are content simply to ban such arrangements, Virginia, which fought tooth and nail to preserve segregation, now is leading just as determined a charge against gay and lesbian rights. Not only has its Republican-dominated legislature refused to repeal the state’s intrusive sodomy laws, but it has also launched an even more vicious assault on gays with its “Marriage Affirmation Act.”

Unfazed by the Supreme Court’s judgment in the case of Lawrence vs. Texas, the Virginia legislature, after somewhat embarrassing and heated discussions, decided during its latest session to allow Virginia’s sodomy laws to remain intact. As Kent Willis, the Executive Director of the Virginia ACLU put it, “The source of their squeamishness is not just the subject of sex, but of sex and homosexuality. It is not just personal discomfort that produces this annual slight of sodomy law reform, but also political discomfort with the idea of voting for a bill that might appear to treat gays and lesbians with a modicum of fairness.”

Hence the unenforceable sodomy laws, which apply to both homosexuals and heterosexuals, remain in the canon of Virginia law.

In addition, Virginia legislators have repeatedly refused to even consider including gays in hate-crime bills, and this despite the fact that attacks on gays are more the rule than the exception in the state.

Yet that is not enough. For despite the fact that Virginia already bans gay marriage and civil unions and has legislatively decreed that it will not honor such arrangements made in other states, Republicans this year insisted on going even further with their so-called “Marriage Affirmation Act.”

In one of the most homophobic and discriminatory bills to pass any lawmaking body in the country, the General Assembly of Virginia has, with a veto-proof majority, made it clear that the state will now ban not only gay marriage and civil unions, but also deem null and void “any contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage.”

In short, the state has eradicated what few recourses are left to gays and lesbians to protect their families. Wills will be declared invalid, as will any contracts formulated to share assets or medical benefits. Power of attorney, child welfare and adoption arrangements will become a thing of the past. Henceforth, gays and lesbians in the state of Virginia will exist totally outside any law that might solidify their relationship.

That this sad piece of legislation is so obviously unconstitutional seems, despite the warnings of Gov. Mark Warner, to have bothered our primeval legislators not one whit. Indeed, even the more moderate Republicans who were instrumental in passing essential tax hikes fell all over themselves to cast a gay bashing vote of “aye” for this horrendous bill.

In fact, so ridiculous are its ramifications that now any two unmarried men or women, gay or straight, will have to prove to the state of Virginia that they are not homosexuals if they wish to formulate a partnership contract of any sort between themselves.

In the grand historical scheme of things, Virginia has much to be proud of. Yet she still remains a state where, sad to say, racism flourishes and a fundamentalist view of society has promoted insularity and ignorance. Unfortunately, the latest ugly manifestation of these repressive and exclusionary beliefs is about to destroy the meaningful and productive lives of the thousands of gays and lesbians living within her borders.

May 13, 2004