MARRIAGE AMENDMENT FILED IN VIRGINIA: From the Washington Blade

Virginia gay rights groups expressed outrage this week at the introduction of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in the state.

Virginia House Joint Resolution No. 528, which was pre-filed on Oct. 8 for the 2005 session of the General Assembly, would add a subsection to the state’s Bill of Rights explicitly outlawing gay marriage.

The proposed amendment states: "To be valid or recognized in this Commonwealth, a marriage may exist only between one man and one woman. No provision of this Constitution shall be interpreted to require the Commonwealth to recognize or permit marriage between individuals of the same sex." ...

According to Virginia state law, in order to be adopted, the proposed amendment would have to pass in the same written form by a simple majority in two successive sessions of Virginia's General Assembly, separated by an election.

Given that 2005 is an election year, if the measure is passed by the General Assembly in both 2005 and 2006, it would then be put on the ballot as a voter referendum in the fall of 2006.

more

posted by Eve at 5:25 PM | link

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home