House panel rejects constitution amendments to restore voting rights, remove same-sex marriage ban

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Virginia GOP blocks gay marriage, voting rights proposals

The Associated Press

February 8, 2022, 12:13 PM

Republicans in the Virginia House defeated measures Tuesday that would have let voters decide whether to strip legally outdated language prohibiting gay marriage from the state Constitution and automatically restore the voting rights of felons who have served their terms.

Both proposed constitutional amendments passed the General Assembly last year when Democrats controlled the legislature. The measures needed to pass a second time this year in order to go to voter referendums in the fall, but they died in party-line votes in an early morning subcommittee. ... Similar measures are still alive in the Senate, but the House, which is now narrowly controlled by Republicans, would need to reverse its position for them to succeed.

There was virtually no discussion of the merits of the measures among Republicans on the subcommittee Tuesday. Democrats quickly blasted the votes. ... In Virginia, the governor currently has sole discretion to restore a felon’s voting and other civil rights, such as the right to serve on a jury or run for office.

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Josh Hetzler, counsel for the Family Foundation of Virginia, warned that the measure would open to the door to polygamy “and other types of marriage” because it did not include language limiting marriage to two people. ... Del. Dawn Adams, a subcommittee member who is gay, said in an emotional speech that it was offensive to lump committed same-sex couples in with polygamists. ... “This matters to people,” she said, with her voice cracking.

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A House subcommittee on Tuesday voted 5-4 to reject a proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore rights to felons who have completed their sentences.

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BREAKING

House panel rejects constitutional amendments to restore voting rights and to remove same-sex marriage prohibition

Andrew Cain 1 hr ago

A House subcommittee on Tuesday voted 5-4 to reject a proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore rights to felons who have completed their sentences. ... The panel also voted 6-4 to reject a proposed constitutional amendment to remove from the state constitution defunct wording to bar same-sex marriage. ... The votes mean the measures will not go to voters in statewide referendums in November.

The vote on the proposed same-sex marriage amendment, sponsored by Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, came after an emotional speech by Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond, a member of the Privileges and Elections subcommittee. ... "My entire life all I ever wanted to be was married," Adams said. "And my entire life I knew that wasn't a possibility." ...She added: "You really can't understand what it's like to grow up in an environment when you knew you didn't mean anything to anyone."

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The proposed constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage also passed the legislature in 2021 when Democrats led the General Assembly. The resolution would have repealed the provision in the state constitution that defines marriage as only a union between one man and one woman. It would have declared a fundamental right to marry. .... "Our Marshall-Newman amendment was no longer enforceable, yet it sits in its utter ugliness in our constitution," Sickles said.

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Josh Hetzler, legislative counsel with The Family Foundation of Virginia, asserted that Sickles' proposed amendment does not define marriage and could open Virginia to polygamy. ... Adams told the panel: "This matters to people. And it's not hurting anybody and it's not hurting God. And it's offensive to be lumped into polygamy and all kinds of other crazy stuff."

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