Student group fights for marriage equality

Two West Virginia University student organizations traveled to Charleston Monday for WVU Day in the West Virginia Legislature.

Members of Student Government Association and Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Mountaineers met with state representatives to discuss policy issues during the day designated for members of the WVU community to discuss local issues.

BiGLTM members met with Stephen Skinner, founder of the first gay rights group in the state, Fairness West Virginia, to attend a House of Representatives meeting. There, the issue of making a change to the Marriage Protection Amendment, which denies gays the right to marry, was delayed.

If defeated, the amendment would extend equal marriage rights to gay couples in West Virginia.

While House members voted to table the amendment, which means to hold it until later, when the group was there, Skinner e-mailed the group late Tuesday night stating the amendment was rejected.

"By a vote of 68 to 30, the House of Delegates soundly rejected an unnecessary, discriminatory amendment on marriage in West Virginia today," Skinner’s e-mail read. "This amendment would have permanently placed LGBT West Virginians as second-class citizens in our state’s Constitution."

He also said it was a big victory for the LGBT community, but the bill still needed to be defeated in the Senate.

There are bigger issues for gay West Virginians to tackle other than marriage equality, however, because the state does not have protections against housing and employment discrimination, Skinner said.

"To be frank, we are not talking about marriage equality in West Virginia right now. In the climate we live in, we are not having that discussion," he said. "This is a slow process, and we have a lot of attitudes to overcome."

Legislators are afraid of the backlash from people in districts over the idea of the "gay issue," he said. If more people came out of the closet, it would show citizens gay people need representation within the state, he added.

Under current law, gay West Virginians can be denied buying a house or getting a job based on sexual orientation.

After the House session ended, BiGLTM members met with delegates and senators to lobby for change on gay rights issues.

Austin Rempel, BiGLTM’s secretary, and other group members met with Sen. Mike Oliverio to discuss his decision to co-sponsor the Marriage Protection resolution.

"Often times I have voted in the minority on issues of sexual orientation protections, and I see people of different sexual orientation as citizens," Oliverio said. "What I’ve done is responded to constituents who have asked me to support a resolution to give voters the opportunity to vote on this issue."

It is never right when a majority votes on behalf of a minority, Rempel said. Gays’ rights are in question if their choice to marry is voted on, he added.

A vote should be up to state citizens to decide in favor of marriage equality, Oliverio said. Thirty other U.S. states have passed similar legislation.

SGA President Jason Zuccari, Vice President Whitney Rae Peters and two other SGA members, also on the trip, toured the capital building, met Gov. Joe Manchin and different district delegates.

The student lobbying group, which was supposed to attend WVU Day, backed out because of midterms and the SGA election, said SGA Gov. Abby Sobonya, adding she typed a sheet detailing the bills she is lobbying for.

Those bills include being against changing the PROMISE Scholarship to a forgivable loan, being in favor of a tax deduction for all prepaid tuition and exempting undergraduate students attending state colleges or universities, from paying state income tax for the first two years of postgraduate education, among others.

No other members from the student lobbying group were in attendance. This was WVU President James P. Clements’ first WVU Day since his appointment last April. He was glad students are taking an interest in state government.

"That’s what students are supposed to do, they’ve got to invest their interest in their future of the state and their educational programs," Clements said. "The reason to come is that you always want your voice to be heard and shape the face of government."
 

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2 comments

Chuck Anziulewicz

Wed Feb 24 2010 15:01

On January 18th I attended the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration at Asbury United Methodist Church and the steps of the State Capitol Building. Many of our elected officials delivered remarks during this event, among them Governor Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman, House of Delegates Speaker Rick Thompson, and Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin. As befitting the occasion, these speakers all underscored the importance of freedom, justice, and equal opportunity for all West Virginians.

So it pains me to see some politicians in West Virginia again clamoring for a “Marriage Amendment” to be added to our state’s constitution. Such an amendment would forever eliminate Gay couples from any possibility of legal protection. It would also reflect poorly on the Mountain State for several reasons.

It would conflict with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This is a law that applies to all of us -- Straight, Gay, Black, White (and everything in between); able-bodied or disabled; Christian, Muslim, Jew, or Zoroastrian. That's why I like living in America.

Supporters of such an amendment insist that marriage is “sacred” according to their religious beliefs. But it is not the purpose of government nor the Constitution to make things "sacred." If the government considers marriage to be a religious designation rather than a legal one, it has no business making any laws concerning that institution. If, as confirmed by its actions, the government believes "marriage" to be a legal contract, it has no business denying that contract to any two people, no matter what their gender might be.

But this amendment as currently envisioned makes no provision for law-abiding, taxpaying Gay couples in West Virginia. As someone who prides himself as being nothing if not diplomatic, I would take simple legal equality under the law, even if the operative term is "civil unions." If social conservatives simply wish to reserve the term "marriage" for heterosexual couples, they can have it, as long as Gay couples are treated fairly. If it becomes clear that a “Marriage Amendment” is to be put before the voters, it must be revised to include “civil unions” for Lesbian & Gay couples.

Contrary to what supporters of such an amendment claim, nothing has happened to “traditional marriage” in states where Gay couples have been allowed to marry or form civil unions. Straight couples continue to date, get engaged, marry, and build lives and families together as they always have, even where Gay couples are allowed to do the same.

In fact, allowing legal unions for all couples, Gay and Straight, is beneficial to society in general. Married couples typically contribute more and take less from society; they support and care for each other financially, physically and emotionally and often contribute more to the economy and savings. Individuals who are married are less likely to receive government entitlements. Individuals who are married statistically consume less health care services, and often give more to churches and charities. And married couples are better able to provide care and security for children; this includes Gay couples who have children through adoption or some other means.

The reason Gay and Straight couples choose to marry is to make a solemn declaration before friends and family members that they wish to make a commitment to one another's happiness, health, and well-being, to the exclusion of all others. Those friends and family members subsequently act as a force of encouragement for that couple to hold fast to their vows. That’s what makes marriage a good thing.

In a February 3rd column for the Charleston Gazette, Jeremiah Dys of The Family Policy Council of West Virginia expressed support for such a divisive and unneeded “Marriage Amendment.” I wish he would ask himself why law-abiding, taxpaying Lesbian & Gay West Virginians should be forced to subsidize all the legal benefits, protections, and responsibilities of marriage, when we are unable to take part in those same incentives? And since when do voters get to decide that the rights that apply to them should not apply to minority groups?

Anonymous

Wed Feb 24 2010 09:07

The Legislative session's over 2/3 done...yet the most the student lobbying group has done this year is "typed up a sheet". That's a disappointment, especially considering there are alumni in and around the Charleston area (several who either work for, or actually serve in, the Legislature) who'd be willing to help the students work for their legislative goals. Isn't this the 2nd year in a row there's been a student lobbying group, yet it hasn't made it to the Capitol? I guess winning the SGA election is more important than trying to get real change done.

Oh, and you might want to check your facts...the state doesn't have a House of Representatives, it has a House of Delegates.

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