Queer Action hosts anti-marriage amendment rally

At a small but loud rally Wednesday morning, opponents of the proposed marriage amendment to the Virginia Constitution made an appeal for students to vote “no.” About 30 people gathered in the Commons Plaza at 11 a.m. to hoist signs, chant and listen to speakers tell why they personally oppose the amendment. Many walking to and from class stopped as well to watch and listen.

Matt Sievert, a physics graduate student, said voting against the amendment “maintains the status quo – as horrible as that is.” Today, gay marriages are illegal in Virginia, but the amendment would place a ban in the Virginia Constitution.

Tom Osborne, treasurer of the Virginia Partisans Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club, spoke candidly about his life and relationship with his partner, John Jenkins.

“Traditional marriage is not under attack,” he said. “My marriage is under attack.”

“Since day one we have functioned as a married couple,” he said. “We’ve owned five houses jointly. We own everything that we own together.”

That relationship bothers the amendment’s sponsors, Osborne said. He told the crowd that Delegate Robert G. Marshall, R-Manassas, told him it amounted only to “a friendship with a venereal partner.”

Osborne stressed that the older generation wanted it codified in the constitution not to change the status quo but to “rule you from the grave.”

“People my age and older are the main opponents of recognizing my rights, and people your age overwhelmingly want to know what’s the big deal about it, ” he said.

The amendment could be overcome if passed, but it would delay the battle by 10 or 15 years, Osborne said.

The government has maintained the difference between church and state-sanctioned marriages well, he said, noting the Terri Schiavo case, in which her husband was able to make an end-of-life decision over her family’s objections. But in critical moments, the fact that Osborne’s marriage isn’t sanctioned by the state means decisions will be left to his estranged next of kin.

“If I’m in a coma. (it’s) not John, my spouse of 33 years; it’s my half-brother Harold out in California who I’ve seen or talked to five times in 40 years,” he said.

Brendan Artz, a sophomore religious studies and women’s studies major, told the crowd that people asked him if it was only a gay issue.

“The answer is no, it’s not a gay issue. It’s going to affect the gay community just as it’s going to affect me” as a straight person, he said. Artz said the amendment would take rights from all unmarried couples.

Sara Duke, president of Voices for Planned Parenthood at VCU, or VOX, said Virginia Republicans didn’t seem to understand equality.

“Why is it that we have to consistently go back and redefine what equality means? Why can’t we just say equality for everyone?” she asked the cheering crowd.

Duke said everyone in the crowd knew they would vote “no,” but she challenged them to take the next step.
“Let’s get 10 other people to go to the polls with us to vote ‘no.’ This is clearly discrimination. This is clearly bigotry, and we need to shut it down,” she said.

Kiffy Johnson said the threat to domestic violence protections for all unmarried couples is real. The laws protecting spouses were passed in 1984, and later Attorney General Mary Sue Terry expanded it to “family abuse” covering other family members and unmarried partners. During his term as attorney general from 1993 to 1997, Jim Gilmore said it did not cover same-sex couples.

Johnson said Gov. Tim Kaine was the 200th lawyer to agree that the proposed amendment would have unintended consequences for all unmarried couples. Unmarried couples receive half of the protective orders, she said.

“Let’s change that. Virginia is for all lovers,” Johnson said.
Bonnie Gabel, president of Queer Action at VCU, said the rally was a good way to reach the VCU community.

“Tabling works, but not a lot of people stop by,” she said.

“People can tune this out, but it’s a bit more in your face.”

Gable and Artz are optimistic that the amendment could fail in Virginia. Similar measures have passed in 20 states, and measures are also on the Nov. 7 ballot in Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

“I hope Virginia will be one of the first states where it fails in. I wish that this affected the mindset of more Virginians,” Gable said. “In a country that’s supposed to stand for justice, liberty and freedom, we shouldn’t stand for bigotry and discrimination into our doctrine.”

Artz said it will fail if the information is disseminated beyond “the older, conservative, already-married couples.”
“If you read it, it’s like a big joke,” he said of the amendment’s language.

“It’s our job as American citizens to stop bad amendments to our constitution. It’s a big deal,” Artz said.