Ob USElectionCommentary

[firecat]

Yay Democratic House. Impeach, impeach, impeach.

Yay no Republican gains in major races.

Hope for tied Senate (still too close to call, last I checked).

Yay no California Prop 85 (mandatory waiting period and parental notification if minor daughter seeks abortion). Yay South Dakotans for voting down their anti-abortion initiative.

Mad about a bunch of "no gay marriage" amendments passing. (But yay Arizonans for defeating theirs!)

Pretty scared at the 71% yes vote on California's Prop 83 ("Sex offenders released from prison would be monitored with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices...for life. Registered sex offenders would not be allowed to reside within 2,000 feet of a school or park." [i.e., not in any urban areas whatsoever]). It just seems to me that the definition of "sex offender" could change awfully suddenly to include consensual behavior among adults.

Comments

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Virginia's new constitutional amendment does not just prohibit same-sex marriage. It prevents anyone not in a legally registered marriage of one man and one woman from receiving any of the benefits of marriage. (Well, any those benefits the state controls. They can't keep us out of each other's arms, which is quite a benefit, when you get right down to it.) There are thousands of Virginians in unmarried families, who made contracts for mutual inheritance, living trusts, guardianship of children, living wills, and so on...the new constitutional amendment forbids all that. I also expect it to limit the ability of unmarried couples to adopt children.

Domestic violence protections apply when a person attacks a spouse, or someone "living as a spouse." (Non-domestic violence can also be serious, but it's a different thing.) After Ohio passed a constitutional amendment with wording like Virginia's, some courts are saying they can't issue restraining orders to unmarried abusers. http://www.constitutioncenter.org/education/TeachingwithCurrentEvents/ConstitutionNewswire/16833.shtml
Because that would give a benefit of marriage to the unmarried victim.

In short, this amendment is a total disaster for all unmarried people. I grieve for Virginia.

[firecat]

That is truly disgusting. Looks like it won't stand up to a Supreme Court challenge, but in the meantime...[grrr]