VP: Amendment won’t protect marriage

The Virginian-Pilot weighs in on the so-called Marriage Amendment today and gives a well-reasoned argument for Voting NO on this issue:

Parse them anyway you like, but those 87 words [of the amendment] seek no less than to undo what Mason wrought in Virginia’s first days, sentiments that have stood the test of 230 years.

[…]

The mere possibility that such gracelessness might find its way into Virginia’s high-minded Bill of Rights – among protections for religious liberties, assembly and free elections – is insult enough to the commonwealth’s founding sentiments.

But the marriage amendment’s intent – to deprive unmarried people of basic legal rights otherwise guaranteed by Virginia’s constitution and by common law – makes a mockery of Mason’s hope of protecting the inherent rights of all men to be equally free and independent.

Go over and read the whole thing. And then Vote NO on Ballot Issue #1.

Technorati Tags: Marshall Newman Amendment, Virginia Marriage Amendment