Seth

Everyone here should visit the VirginiaIsForHaters.com website. It is amazing that in 2004 a group of people can be so closed-minded and full of hate.

SanFranciscoTechGuy

Appreciate you pointing this out.

It really is shocking in this day and age that people lack such perspective on what should be common sense, a matter of the constitution, and something that is really God's jurisdication - he made us all and frankly loves us why. Why does this people in VA hate? Why are they do ignorant? Why are they disrespecting the constitution.

Whether one is gay, bi, or straight is something that should be completely irrelevant... I seem to remember something in our constitution about all people being created equal...we finally addressed the black and women issue. But can you believe in 2004, our country still does not get. I think that we will eventually but it is so sad that so many have to suffer so long.

So, like Blacks, Women, Italians etc before us, we need to do the same thing, stand up for what we believe until things are made just. Its too bad, I just think we could have better things to do ....and all the suffering in the meantime. I hope some day it is true that is does not matter what color, sexual preference, or religion people are...it should matter how we treat our fellow person and genuinely love people.

GoodKarmaGuy

Do you mean the website group, who acknowledges attacking "innocent companies" with absurd logic? That is surely hateful. Or do you mean SOME of the people who live in Virginia? Hateful, as well. But please do not blame all of us who live here, as the website name does. Some of us do not approve of what the legislature is doing and we are working towards open-mindedness.

Certainly, I understand the principles of the boycott and am not opposed to that. But "Virginia is for Haters"???

There is no point to just plain meanness.

Anyway, meanness is BadForMyKarma.

HeHateY

Are there any banks actually based in Virgina (and not South Dakota or Delaware)?
If so, can one, for example, get a loan from them or a credit card and then used this law to void the contract (after the money is delivered from the bank of course!)? "Oh, sorry, I'm homosexual."

And don't forget both US Airways and ACA/Independence Air are HQ'd in the Commonwealth of Virginia!

LHR Tim

FWIW, you may as well say boycott the USA.

Even IF this was not passed in VA and Civil Unions, Marriage, whateveryouwanttocallit, is passed, the simple fact remains it will not be recognised on a FEDERAL level. So if I get 'married in Massachussets' or 'Civily Partnered' here in the UK, whilst I will have full legal rights in the UK, my partner gets JACK from the US and we would not be allowed to move there an have him work in the US. The UK, several years ago equalised immigration rights, gay or straight.

AJLondon

Right on the button LHR Tim.
Couldn't have expressed it better myself.

alanw

I think you ought to just drive right on over there on your John Deere and give them a piece of your mind!

blairvanhorn

Alvin Straight!

anonplz

Well, they say "justice delayed is justice denied" and that's true, but these things do take time - Massachusetts only just recently started marrying gay couples. At some point, sooner or later, someone will apply for federal benefits based upon their status as a gay spouse of someone else, they will be denied those rights by the federal government, and a lawsuit will follow. That's how rights are legitimately enforced in a free society - through the courts. People whine about it ("why so many lawsuits?!"), but that's how it works.

"So what?," you ask? Well, it's likely that all legislation prohibiting federal recognition of gay marriages WHERE GAY MARRIAGE EXISTS ON A STATE LEVEL for the purposes of enjoying federal benefits, including the Defense of Marriage Act, will be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional, on several levels (state's rights, denial of equal protection of the laws, etc.).

I believe laws which discriminate against gays and lesbians are built on a house of cards, and they'll all come tumbling down eventually. YMMV.

DavidDTW

I agree, and with the marriage issue being front and center these days, we should not lose sight of the fact that 36 states still do not include sexual orientation in their civil rights and anti-discrimination laws.

At the Detroit pride celebration last Sunday, Triangle Foundation hung an american flag with only 14 stars in the blue field. Just about everyone was wearing a sticker about marriage, but some just didn't get the meaning of the flag.

mjt

And USAirways, at least, has been very LGBT-friendly. They have progressive corporate policies, support LGBT causes around the country (including the North Carolina Pride Parade), and even have a director of marketing to the LGBT community. ^

As for your question about banks in VA, Capital One is based in Richmond. I don't know what their corporate policies are, as I gave up their CC long ago because of horrible customer service.

in peace,
Michael

blueDC

While I do not go as far as agreeing with the abovementioned website, at some point I think we can all acknowledge that the Virginia Affirmation of Marriage Act is plainfully hateful and discriminatory against gays and lesbians. The text of the bill is shocking in that it potentially voids wills, power of attorneys, beneficiary designations, etc. established between same-sex couples but not opposite-sex unmarried couples who are residents of the state of Virginia. The intentions of the crafters of the bill might have been to pre-empt recognition of same-sex unions/marriages from other states but the actual text is potentially more far-reaching in its consequences. With a medical power of attorney, I can't imagine being denied making medical decisions for my partner and vice-versa but with this law, I can. (Note to self: best to stick with DC/MD hospitals )

IMHO, this bill needs to be fought to the Supreme Court level.

As for boycotting, I say to each his/her own. My friends vowed never to set foot in VA again. I still happily work/shop in Northern VA. The bill has less to do with the entire population of VA being hateful and more to do with a handful of less-than-informed state politicians in Richmond. I do practice some form of boycott, though, against companies that are fervently anti-gay. And I don't disagree with the tactics of the VirginiaIsForHaters.com website who, I feel, is probably not aiming to incite riot but merely trying to raise awareness of this incendiary issue which I think is ultimately a very noble goal.

StudentExplorer

Ah, the same state that gave us Loving v. Virginia.

mjt

All-

I should add that friends in VA have told me that the prevailing sense there is that the parts of the law that could be construed as voiding living wills, health care power of attorney contracts and other such contracts will be struck down as soon as it's challenged in court.

-Michael

GoodKarmaGuy

*sigh*

I "DO" miss Sitges!


Et pour mon ami futur, blairvanhorn, un lien "Alvin".

BTW, Alvin's was a mower. We have TWO real tractors and (to keep on topic) for those of you who are not boycotting Virginia and are coming to the farm Do, we will have riding lessons.