WV Shockingly Does the Right Thing

OK, I had a righteous rant all prepared for my WV state legislature, but the threat of it in my previous posts clearly made the state officials do the right thing. My rant was going to be about how WV had a bill making its way through the legislature to encode discrimination for marriage into the state constitution, a la California's Prop 8. Here's a link to the story about the bill: bill goes down in blaze of glory

The Senate approved a bill earlier on March 14 that protected gays in WV from discrimination in job hiring/firing--massive progress for this state; the House (I believe) still has to vote on it, but I don't see how it wouldn't pass. Now the House has stopped the discrimination for marriage bill cold. We're also probably not done quite yet. The Family Policy Council (har) has tried to "name and shame" some of the people who prominently spoke out against the bill--a bullying tactic that should be seen for what it is: intimidation by Christian fanatics. This bill was eventually to go before the voters, if it were approved by the House, but it was stalled in committee; this pissed off Republicans, who moved to take it out of committee to a full House vote, where they got thumped 67-30. Democratic legislators have questioned the motives behind the amendment, which I think is an important starting point.

This is progress of a sort. We do have a law that requires marriage certificates in WV to say "marriage is designed to be a loving and lifelong union between a woman and a man." Snort. But I don't see any evangelicals persecuting people who choose to divorce. This bill was brought forward by evangelicals, and that in itself pisses me off. They are the loudest group bitching about having other beliefs "forced" on them; but they're the first group to try to have discrimination that favors them coded into the law. The Family Policy Council of WV reportedly called the revision committee chairwoman and the head of the House Judiciary Committee with abusive phone calls (how very Christ-like of them). That we continue to allow them to intimidate others in our society is beyond my ability to comprehend.

The Republican minority leader, Tim Armstead believes, "This is an urgent issue. It's an issue that needs to be addressed." WHY? Why must we rush to approve discrimination for marriage? Because that's exactly what you're doing when you support a ban on gay marriage--coding discrimination into your state laws. People have yet to demonstrate a logical reason to keep gay people from enjoying the same legal protections and tax breaks that hetero people enjoy. The concept that this will somehow damage hetero marriage defies logic--stupid and selfish hetero people damage hetero marriages. Gays have nothing to do with it. The rhetoric about "imposing" gay marriage also makes me laugh. Because it implies that now, by law, you MUST go and get Gay Married right away. So hurry up, readers, and go get your gay spouse. After all, it's now The Law.

We need to continue to question the motives behind these moves. Because what is at stake is maintaining cultural dominance. It is absurd to believe that gays getting married somehow cheapens, or worse, destroys your own marriage. What you are asking for when you ask for discrimination is to be the dominant one instead of equals. You are asking for special privileges over other groups of people, and you believe that you are entitled to these privileges because of your religious choice. Rights for all people is supposedly something this nation in particular strives hard for (even though that idea was given the lie from the very start). Here's to hoping the WV legislature continues to do the right thing.

-- DV, heading out to get "gay married" because It's The Law.