Notice: Gays leave Virginia

     News that the state of Virginia is stripping gay couples of ALL RIGHTS is on the web today. Apparently their message is to gays and lesbians to just go ahead and leave. The bill that has just passed there, the Marriage Affirmation Act (HB 751), will likely prevent gay couples from having basic things like a medical power of attorney and estate planning rights. So if your partner is in the hospital dying, a gay Virginian will have no say in what happens, let alone be able to see that person. Those who provide health insurance for their partner - no more.
     The author of the bill, Robert Marshall, R., says this bill is only limited to things like civil unions and similar institutions, but the wording of the bill seems a bit broader. It makes illegal any "partnership contract or other arrangements that purport to provide the benefits of marriage." I would say that is so sweeping it can be interprested to mean a myriad of things. If I lived in Virginia I think I would be considering moving. Even in Ohio where we had one of the worst DOMAs ever created, we can still draft our own protections. (since the State certainly won't help protect our right, thank you Mr. Taft) Virginia's DOMA has such a sweeping meaning it may as well be labeled the "Gays get out of Virgina" Act. How much worse can it get?
(sources: Virginia takes away gay partner rights, Postcards From Nowhere)