Va. marriage amendment foes gathering momentum

"The exclusive right of marriage is the ability to
choose your next of kin and create a new family."

Get Involved!

Volunteer to help defeat the 'so-called' marriage amendment in the fall:

City Market - Every Saturday until the end of October sign up those who will vote no at the City Market in Charlottesville. Set up a 3-4 hour shift. Recruit friends to help you. Market ends at noon.

Friday's after 5 - Every Friday until the end of October sign up those who will vote no at Friday's after 5. Set up a 2 hour shift, 5pm to 7pm. We have a permit to have a table on the Downtown Mall.

Albemarle County Fair - August 1 - 6. We have an application in to have a booth and should receive confirmation in the next week or so. We are hoping we can get the various GLBT organizations in town to each take a day as we did last summer and recruit volunteers.

Westhaven Community Day - August 5 10am to 2pm (9am setup).

Annual EV Cville Area Dinner - September 23...day of action in Cville....mark your calendars now! The Annual EV Cville Area Dinner will be that night at the UU Church on Rugby Rd.


"A politician on the politics of gay"
Blair Hawkins, May 14, 2003, The Observer (defunct)

I would like to thank The Observer for its coverage of my announcement to seek the Republican nomination for House of Delegates 57th District.

I'd like to take issue with "The Spur: the politics of 'gay'" (Apr. 30) and express a candidate's view. "…if Charlottesville is the liberal Mecca of Virginia, the gay presence has been, to date, a little underwhelming."

As a gay man, born and raised here, and out of the closet for fifteen years, I can tell you that gay people are everywhere. Like other underprivileged, they are invisible. As a minority, gays are like no other. They are the only people who routinely need protection from their own families. The best way to protect them is to extend the right to form a new family to all people.

Married people don't seem to be aware of their privileges. So naturally, they don't want to pay the marriage penalty, a higher income tax to pay for those special rights. Only a man and a woman can designate each other as next of kin, power of attorney, and sole heir in a single legal document. Of course, everyone can write a will and assign power of attorney. The exclusive right of marriage is the ability to choose your next of kin as many times as you want.

Usually, your closest blood relative would have your best interest at heart. This is often not the case for gays. It becomes apparent if you find yourself suddenly hospitalized or jailed. Next of kin, whom you haven't seen for decades, can show up and, legally, make decisions for you. You don't have to be gay to have a hateful family.

Gay marriage seems to be a contradictory phrase.

Marriage is a religious term. The government should not discriminate on the basis of religion. We should recognize nontraditional families. Marriage certificate for a man and woman. Next of Kin certificate for everyone else. Fee for both. If you're happy with your next of kin, you need do nothing.

Two old ladies living out their retirement as roommates should be able to designate each other as next of kin to protect themselves from greedy children. Would you want someone to make life or death decisions for you if you knew that person would choose death? A Next of Kin license is just a piece of paper naming your closest legal relative. Government agencies would regard the name on the license as your closest family member.

What exactly is a family? A group of people with common relatives? Related by blood or by marriage? Or two people who care about each other more than anyone else? I consider my coworkers as family because I spend more time with them than I spend with anyone else. In some circles, 'family' is code for gay. It is already legal for gays to be closest next of kin; for example, two orphans or man and woman married for convenience.

I favor equal rights, not special rights. Every crime is a hate crime. Pressure should be placed on judges and prosecutors to enforce the law equally. The legislature should pass laws that apply equally to everyone. The right to form a legal family would make the world a safer place for all people.

This kind of honest analysis and focus on basic principles distinguishes me as a candidate. If elected, you can expect more simple solutions to complex problems. I will try to make the world a better place one person at a time.