"Paradise Lost" (Washington Post re: Lesbians' Exit from Virginia)

The Washington Post ^ | 12/18/05 | Michelle Boorstein

[tsipple]

Barbara Kenny's eyes narrow as she cranks the faucet in a freshly painted bathroom of what will soon be her new home in Frederick. [....]

"This just makes me madder and madder," Barbara says, staring out the window at the bare February landscape. "I mean, this is a perfectly fine house, it's just not where we want to be."

Where they want to be is Virginia, in the little townhouse in downtown Fredericksburg they've owned for 17 years, in the community they've come to treasure. It took them three decades of isolation and living in the closet to find Fredericksburg, and come out as lesbians. [....]

[They] were watching television in their living room rocking chairs in the summer of 2004 when they heard the news they'd been dreading for months. A new law in Virginia had taken effect, called the Affirmation of Marriage Act. It declared that couples like them were not entitled to any of the benefits or protections that straight, married couples got. [....]

For Barbara and Tibby, the legal language it used was scary: A civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage is prohibited and such an arrangement entered into in another state or jurisdiction is void in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby are void and unenforceable.

Tibby initially refused to believe that the legislation was aimed at Barbara and her. They were law-abiding, low-key Virginians, people who ran their neighborhood homeowners association, called bingo nights at the firehouse and served on their church's board of trustees. "That's not meant to include us. It means people who come from other states," Tibby said with her typically earnest tone to Barbara, who responded with a typically skeptical look.

[Continues....]

[StAnDeliver]

"...people who ran their neighborhood homeowners association, called bingo nights at the firehouse and served on their church's board of trustees."

Sound like your classic nosy nibshits. Just like the kind of people who would abuse neighborhood homeowners association clauses in order to prevent outdoor barbeques, displaying Old Glory, kids playing in the yard, you name it.

[Viking2002]

"The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name has become The Love That Won't Shut The F#ck Up"

HeeheeHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..........Bravo! Bravo!

[patton]

you owe me a keyboard. LOL.

"honey, is it time to clean the carpet?"

[snippy_about_it]

lol.

[pierrem15]

ROFLMAO! But how true. And just in time for the Christmas season, we have the tale of two shepherds in 'Bareback', err, I mean 'Brokeback' mountain.

This is what Federalism is supposed to mean.

[M. Dodge Thomas]

I don’t have any problem understanding their position. I’m a man, married to a woman, and we can both be certain that were have the legal right to make binding arrangements insuring that we have the mutual authority to make decisions for each other should one of us become incapacitated, and that it would be very difficult for anyone else to interfere with this process.

But if this wasn’t the case, and my partner was a man, there is a good chance that such a decision might be made for me by a blood relative who I have no assurance would honor my wishes, and who I have good reason to suppose might attempt to thwart them.

Wanting to ban gay marriage is one thing.

Writing a law which may have the result of nullifying someone’s preference on matters such as the validity of medical directives is quite another, and to do seems to me at best careless and at worst mean-spirited.

[CzarNicky]

LOL

[who knows what evil?]

Geez...is there some sort of 'master template' so-called journalists download every time they 'write' one of these whiny articles? They all seem to read the same way, and they ALL include the pre-requisite "scared". Gag me. No, wait...never mind.

[dighton]

For Barbara and Tibby, the legal language it used was scary.

[Rebel_Ace]

Um, sorry, I just misread:

"Lesbians' Exit from Virginia"

[okie01]

"The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name has become The Love That Won't Shut The F#ck Up"

An absolutely perfect summary.

[okie01]

Writing a law which may have the result of nullifying someone’s preference on matters such as the validity of medical directives is quite another, and to do seems to me at best careless and at worst mean-spirited.

Power Of Attorney is Power Of Attorney, whether it is wielded by one's spouse, friend or lover.

What we have just read is an elaborate exercise in gay propaganda.

[rlmorel]

[GodfearingTexan]

excellent!

[EverOnward]

Aren't there a lot of lesbian witches around Frederick (as in Wiccan)? There's more to this story than a law that basically did nothing to change their lifestyle in any way.

[YourAdHere]

Frederick isn't exactly an enclave for diversity either. Why don't they just move to Frisco and be done with it?

[muawiyah]

"scary" in a story always means its raw dump Demo propaganda.

[streetpreacher]

Well good luck with tacking on a ...