I know I'm about a week late on posting this, but last week was long and hard and tiring. A lot happened and I just didn't think this post would fit well with the other things going on in my piece of the world. But it is time and I'm so happy to write about it.
Last week, on Monday at 1pm, my home state, Virginia, hosted its first same sex marriages after the Ban was struck down in federal courts. This is SO important. Let me give some detail.
On Monday, October 6th, the Supreme Court refused to hear cases in 5 states, including Virginia, pertaining to Same-Sex Marriage Bans, thus upholding the decisions of the lower courts. Those five states immediately were allowed to hold Same-Sex marriages. My Attorney General, Mark Herring, whom I helped elect last year, announced that the Commonwealth of Virginia would begin providing Same-Sex Marriage Certificates and holding the marriages with Justices of the Peace at 1pm that same day. That. SAME. DAY. I have never been so proud to be a Virginian and to have worked tirelessly to make sure than Governor McAuliffe, Lieutenant Governor Northam, and Attorney General Herring were elected. This is what I fought for. Equality of all people in my state.
This has not been an easy battle, you see. I was alive when the Same-Sex Marriage Ban was made stricter and stricter as an amendment to the Commonwealth of Virginia's Constitution. The initial amendment in 1975 the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibited the marriage of same sex individuals. In 1997, the Virginia General Assembly banned the recognition of same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions and blocked access to benefits awarded married couples. In 2004, the Virginia General Assembly went a step further and banned civil unions and the like between same-sex couples including private contracts. As you can see, Virginia hasn't been on the right side of history for a long time.
On July 18, 2013, Bostic v. Schaefer was filed challenging the same-sex marriage ban in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. This case initially involved one male gay couple, though not to much later a lesbian couple joined in a plantiffs on the case. Attorney General Herring refused to defend the Ban on his Inauguration into office in January. On February 13, 2014, Judge Wright Allen in Norfolk, VA ruled that the statutory and constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Virginia was unconstitutional. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this decision on July 28th in favor of striking down the ban entirely. So with the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal on October 6th, the ban was struck down and Virginia, finally, found itself on the right side of history.
This is SO important. Because the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the cases cleared a path for nearly 30 other states to strike down their own same-sex marriage bans. THIS IS HUGE. Since the decision these bans have been falling like dominos throughout the country.
That first day I knew people who got married after decades of commitment to each other. I saw their picture show up on Equality Virginia's facebook and I cried of happiness for them. No Love is Less Important than another. Love is Equal.
Let me share a story from the Campaign Trail last year. I was working in Norfolk for the Democratic Coordinated Campaign. I happened to be in the office when this lovely gay couple came in. They were not originally from Virginia and had moved to the Ghent neighborhood in Norfolk from New York. One of the men was very happy to see the work we were doing and very supportive. The other could not see how any of it would make a difference. His marriage was not recognized here and he did not think it would be anytime soon. I tried so hard to explain to him that this year was different. That I felt that these men could change the tide in Virginia. That Virginia was on the cusp of a dramatic shift. He appreciated my optimism, but was still very doubtful, but did say he would vote for the democrats come November. That was all I could ask. I hope that he and his husband see now that Virginia is worth fighting for. He inspired me. I could not let this be his reality.
So I fought. I am still fighting. And I will not stop fighting until equality is not a luxury or privilege, but a right. You should too. Because no one deserves to feel like a second class citizen for any reason.
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