Marriage amendment still heavy on some minds

Monday evening marked one of the coldest nights of the semester, with temperatures dipping several degrees below freezing. The weather was hardly conducive to outdoor activity, but it didn’t stop two Queer Action at VCU members from meeting downtown for a candlelight vigil mourning the Nov. 7 passing of the state constitutional marriage amendment.

Bonnie Gabel, president of the group, and Amanda Zoe Reidinger, its treasurer, expected a number of fellow Queer Action members and students to join them for the vigil. Maybe it was because of the weather or next week’s finals, but no one else showed up.

Sticking to their principles, Gabel and Reidinger decided anyway to continue with the vigil, opting to make it a personal, intimate experience. At about a quarter after 8 p.m., the two lit candles and walked toward the Capitol as onlookers at a nearby bus stop watched them.

“We’re not just going to lay down and play dead. We’re going to stay here and keep fighting.”
-Bonnie Gabel, president of Queer Action at VCU

“The Marshall-Newman marriage amendment killed our rights,” they said aloud, the candles lighting their cheeks rosy from the cold. “We are memorializing our chance at a right to marriage, our chance at a right to be seen as a functional part of society, our chance at a right to have our families recognized.”

At the building’s gates, Gabel and Reidinger set down their candles and pieces of paper with the text of their chant.

“There’s only two of us, but there’s a lot of people who this legislation affected,” said Gabel, a sophomore theater and political science double major. “We’re not just going to lay down and play dead. We’re going to stay here and keep fighting.”

Proposed Constitutional Amendment 1 – Marriage
Precincts Reporting: 2,599 of 2,599 (100.00%)
Registered Voters: 4,554,683