The following is a response to the Virginia-based Family Foundation’s email (appended below) regarding Equality Prince William’s march on June 26.
The Family Foundation e-mail contains some inaccuracies. First, our march participants did not carry picket signs in front of Delegate Marshall’s house. Participants either prayed, meditated or remained silent as they passed his house. Some newspapers carried photographs that verify that our marchers did not carry signs on Willow Pond Ct., Marshall’s street.
Second, it states that we chose to march past his residence. Delegate Marshall has no commercial district office where he can meet his constituents. Marshall’s house is his 13th Assembly District office. The Manassas/Prince William County Phone Book lists his address as his office. Otherwise, Equality Prince William would have marched in front of his commercial district office.
Third, we did not hold a rally in front of Delegate Bob Marshall’s house. Virginia Code prohibits marchers from standing in front of any person’s residence. The Manassas and Prince William County police departments told Equality Prince William that we could not stop, which we obeyed. If we had conducted a rally in front of Delegate Marshall’s house, the police legally could have arrested our marchers.
Fourth, the Family Foundation states that the marchers tried to intimidate Delegate Bob Marshall. I stated to the media/press that we were trying to show our concerns about House Bill 751. We bought Delegate Marshall a greeting card and a plant. A typical demonstrator would never have been as gracious to someone like we were to Delegate Marshall. After numerous anti-gay bills were introduced by Delegate Marshall, I believe that the gay community has been intimidated enough that some gay people want to leave the Commonwealth because of his legislation. Virginia now ranks as the state with the least amount of rights for gay people than any other state because of HB 751.
The Family Foundation states that they will tell the truth, however, some of their inaccuracies raise questions about their ability to disseminate the truth. On Father’s Day, the FF sent out an e-mail stating gay people were against fathers.
This article shows that people are noticing Equality Prince William, and we are having a positive impact in working towards equality for gay men and lesbians in Prince William County and the rest of Virginia.
Kirk Marusak
President
Equality Prince William
(the following is the text of the Virginia Family Foundation email alert.)
Victoria Cobb, Director of Legislative Affairs Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Information Alert: Homosexuals Boycott Virginia Based on Misinformation
Tomorrow, a new law banning civil unions in our Commonwealth will take affect. As a practical matter, House Bill 751 will not change anything. The Commonwealth of Virginia already explicitly bans same-sex marriage and has never recognized civil unions or other forms of homosexual relationships as a position of public policy.
The intended purpose of the new law is to make explicit a statement of law that is currently implicit. This new law will protect Virginia from activist judges who, prior to this law, might have chosen to read into Virginia’s failure to specifically outlaw civil unions and require Virginia to honor those made in other states. House Bill 751 simply leaves no excuse for misinterpretation by judges.
The language of the law is succinct:
A civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage is prohibited. Any such civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement entered into by persons of the same sex in another state or jurisdiction shall be void in all respects in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby shall be void and unenforceable.
Unfortunately, in order to activate its supporters, Equality Virginia, the state’s homosexual rights group, is misleading their supporters, describing the law as an effort to invalidate any and all contracts between any two persons of the same sex. Despite the fact that the law only addresses “privileges or obligations of marriage,” this group has convinced many that wills, medical directives and other contracts will be voided. As anyone who has created these types of contracts knows, one can name any individual they choose as the beneficiary of their will. This is not a privilege specific to marriage.
This effort to mislead has even been countered by Attorney General Jerry Kilgore. When asked to comment on the constitutionality of the bill, he stated that the “purpose of this legislation is not to prohibit business partnership agreements, medical directives, joint bank accounts, . . .. ” The promulgating of misinformation within the gay rights community has prompted many to vow to pick up and move out of state. In fact, nationwide the homosexual community is attempting to discourage those in this lifestyle to refrain from choosing Virginia as a vacation destination. Sadly, Equality Virginia’s efforts to confuse have resulted in people making major life decisions based on a law which simply restates the longstanding public policy of Virginia.
Today, around the state a new alliance of Virginia-based pro-homosexual organizations called Stand Up For Equality will lead supporters in rallies to protest the new civil union law. One such rally was already held on Saturday in front of the home of Delegate Bob Marshall, the bill’s patron, where approximately fifty picketers marched in opposition to the civil union ban that passed by a bipartisan two-thirds of the General Assembly. As I told the press today, “While fringe groups try to intimidate by marching on legislators’ homes and confuse citizens with misleading rhetoric, the rest of us work through the process and try to bring people together with the truth.”