Update: Explanation of amendment

Thanks to “Not Impressed and Angry” over at Not Larry Sabato, here is the text of the explanation of the Marriage Amendment that AG Bob McDonnell’s office presented to the House Privileges and Elections Committee yesterday. The explanation was approved by the committee on a 12-6 vote (nays: Scott, Brink, Alexander, Sickles, Dance, Englin) despite concerns that the explanation violates the Code requirement that the explanatory statement be neutral. The complete text is:

Explanation
Present Law
The Constitution does not define marriage. Under current statutory law in Virginia, persons who marry must have a license and be married by a licensed minister, judge or other person authorized to perform marriages. Present law prohibits marriages between certain individuals. For example, the law prohibits marriage between a brother and a sister, between a couple where one of the parties is married to someone else, and between couples of the same sex.

In 1975, the General Assembly enacted a statute (present Code of Virginia section 20-45.2) that states “A marriage between persons of the same sex is prohibited.” In 1997, the General Assembly added a sentence to section 20-45.2 that states that:

Any marriage 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 by such marriage shall be void and unenforceable.

In 2004, the General Assembly passed a law to prohibit certain civil unions or other arrangements between persons of the same sex. That law (Code of Virginia section 20-45.3) states that:

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 jurisdication shall be void in all respects in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby shall be void and unenforceable.

Thus, civil unions and other arrangements which purport “to bestowthe privileges or obligations of marriage” are prohibited by statute.

Proposed Amendment
If approved by the voters, this proposed amendment will become part of the Constitution of Virginia. The proposed amendment adds a definition of marriage as the “union between one man and one woman” to the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and prohibits Virginia and its counties, cities and towns from creating or recognizing any legal status by any name which is comparable to marriage.

Marriage in the Commonwealth creates specific legal rights, benefits and obligations for a man and a woman. There are other legal rights, benefits and obligations which will continue to be available to unmarried persons, including the naming of an agent to make end-of- life decisions by an Advanced Medical Directive (Code of Virginia section 54.1-2981), protections afforded under Domestic Violence laws (Code of Virginia section 18.2-57.2), ownership of real property as joint tenants with or without right of survivorship (Code of Virginia section 55-20.1), or disposition of property by will (Code of Virginia section 64.1-46).

A “yes” vote on the proposed amendment will result in the addition of the proposed section 15-A to Article I, the Bill of Rights. A “no” vote will mean that there will be no change in Article I, the Bill of Rights.