Bob Marshall Sponsors Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Conscience Clause Bill

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Sun Jan 11, 2015, 03:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Edited on Sunday to change "Gay Marriage" to "Same-Sex Marriage."

Hat tip, the Washington Blade: Va., Md. gearing up for new legislative session

January 7, 2015 | by Michael K. Lavers

....
State Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William County) has introduced a bill that would allow government officials not to issue a marriage license or other official document based on their religious beliefs. The measure specifically cites “same-sex ‘marriage’ or homosexual behavior.”

“This piece of legislation is extremist, hateful and discriminatory,” said James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, a statewide LGBT advocacy group, on Tuesday in a statement. “While we are all entitled to our own religious beliefs, we cannot use those beliefs to discriminate against others. Discrimination is wrong — it’s that simple.”

Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, also criticized Marshall’s bill. “This legislation is nothing more than a state-sanctioned license to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Virginians, including married same-sex couples, simply because of who they are,” said Gastañaga. ... “The bill would do nothing more than reignite the commonwealth’s historical hostility toward LGBT Virginians.”

Marshall did not respond to the Blade’s request for comment.

HB 1414 Government-issued licenses, etc.; obtaining or renewing, conscience clause.

Introduced by: Robert G. Marshall

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Obtaining or renewing government-issued licenses, etc.; conscience clause. Provides that a person shall not be required to perform, assist, consent to, or participate in any action or refrain from performing, assisting, consenting to, or participating in any action as a condition of obtaining or renewing a government-issued license, registration, or certificate where such condition would violate the religious or moral convictions of such person with respect to same-sex marriage or homosexual behavior.

Full text, House Bill No. 1414

Patron-- Marshall, R.G.

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Referred to Committee on General Laws

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Whereas, the Preamble to the proposed amendments to the United States Constitution, which became the Bill of Rights, sent by Congress for consideration by the States, signed by Frederick Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and John Adams, Vice-President and President of the Senate, and attested to by John Beckley, Clerk of the House of Representatives, and Samuel Otis, Secretary of the Senate, provides that "[t]he Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution"; and
{snip}

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. A person seeking to obtain or renew a license, registration, or certificate from the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions, or any agency, authority, board, department, or other entity thereof, shall not be required to perform, assist, consent to, or participate in any action or refrain from performing, assisting, consenting to, or participating in any action as a condition of obtaining or renewing the license, registration, or certificate where such condition would violate the religious or moral convictions of such person with respect to same-sex "marriage" or homosexual behavior.

[niyad]

1. if you feel like you cannot, in good conscience, do everything your job requires, FIND

ANOTHER JOB.

how many jobs are out there where you can pick and choose which parts you will do, and which your conscience (or bigotry or ignorance) will not allow? and why are you even working in that field?

[immoderate]

2. FUCK THAT SHIT! DO YOUR JOB!

--imm

[msongs]

3. will there be an Anti-Christian Marriage Conscience Clause Bill too? nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. The bill's reach is much more extensive than I first thought.

You don't have to be in a same-sex marriage to be on Bob Marshall's hit list. You just have to be gay.

A New Virginia Bill Would Let Schools, Hotels, Restaurants, and Hospitals Turn Gays Away

Expanding the LGBTQ Conversation Jan. 8 2015 12:19 PM

By Mark Joseph Stern

Nearly a year ago, Kansas legislators quietly attempted to legalize anti-gay segregation, abandoning the effort only after a national wave of outrage arose. Now a Republican delegate in Virginia is attempting to replicate Kansas’ effort—with a bill so extreme, so radically and viciously anti-gay, that it makes Kansas’ measure look moderate by comparison.

The Virginia bill, introduced by Del. Bob Marshall, is actually quite ingenious in its complete degradation of gay citizens. Like every “religious liberty” measure introduced over the past year, its true intent is to legalize discrimination against gay people. But whereas most of those bills attempted to allow discrimination in the realm of gay marriage—permitting, for instance, a florist to refuse to provide flowers for a gay couple’s wedding—the Virginia bill has no such limitation.

Instead, Marshall’s measure would attach a “conscience clause” to any “license, registration, or certificate” obtained from the commonwealth, whether by a private business or a government agency. This clause would allow all workers to refuse to “perform, assist, consent to, or participate in any action” that would “violate the religious or moral conviction of such person with respect to same-sex ‘marriage’ or homosexual behavior.” (Emphasis mine—though the scare quotes around “marriage” are in the bill.) In other words, workers in the state of Virginia need only declare that interacting with people who partake in “homosexual behavior” violates their “moral conviction”—and they will be free to turn them away.

Because the bill applies to both private and public enterprises, and because these enterprises almost always need some kind of “license, registration, or certificate” from the government, its reach is essentially endless. University professors could refuse to teach gay students; doctors in state-run hospitals could refuse to treat gay patients. Hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and bars could simply put up a sign reading “No gays allowed.” Police officers and ambulance drivers could refuse to aid not just gay couples, but also gay individuals. County clerks and DMVs could turn away gays at the door. Public school teachers could kick out gay students. Daycares could refuse to look after the children of gay couples.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Anti-Gay Discrimination Bill Introduced in Virginia

Hat tip, Fairfax Underground, for inspiring me to look up quoted material and find the source.

Anti-Gay Discrimination Bill Introduced in Virginia

"Conscience clause" bill would allow businesses to discriminate against LGBT people under guise of religion
By John Riley on January 6, 2015
@JohnAndresRiley

A Virginia lawmaker has introduced a so-called “conscience clause” bill that would allow private businesses to discriminate against LGBT people and couples without fear of reprisal, setting up a fight for the coming year’s General Assembly session that could also serve as a campaign issue in next November’s legislative elections.

Del. Bob Marshall (R-Manassas Park, Prince William Co.) introduced HB1414, which says that any person seeking to obtain or renew a license from the commonwealth, its political subdivisions, or any agency, board or department “shall not be required to perform, assist, consent to, or participate in any action or refrain from performing, assisting, consenting to or participating in any action as a condition of obtaining or renewing the license, registration or certificate where such condition would violate the religious or moral convictions of such person with respect to same sex ‘marriage’ or homosexual behavior.” Notably, by including both “marriage” and “behavior” in his bill, Marshall ensures that business owners would be able to discriminate against both legally married Virginians in same-sex unions and unmarried people who are perceived to be LGBT.
....

Marshall’s bill is slated to be heard by the House General Laws Committee, which is controlled by Republicans, 15-7, and chaired by Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah, Page, Rockingham, Warren counties), a fierce opponent of LGBT rights. However, five Northern Virginia Republicans could prove essential to whether the bill passes, as the measure needs 12 votes to pass out of committee and to the floor for a vote by the full House, and two other Republicans from downstate have previously been supportive of LGBT rights, leaving the five Northern Virginia Republicans as potential swing votes, particularly if leaned upon by their generally pro-LGBT constituents. Those Republicans are: Jim LeMunyon (R-Fairfax, Loudoun counties), Tag Greason (R-Loudoun Co.), Dave Albo (R-Fairfax Co.) David Ramadan (R-Loudoun, Prince William counties), and Rich Anderson (R-Prince William Co.).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Va. lawmakers highlight support of pro-LGBT bills

Va. lawmakers highlight support of pro-LGBT bills

January 20, 2015 | by Michael K. Lavers

....
Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Jan. 14 during his State of the Commonwealth speech highlighted efforts to formally repeal Virginia’s marriage amendment and ban anti-LGBT discrimination against employees in state and local governments and in housing.

The governor last week said he would veto state Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William County)’s bill that would allow state licensed or accredited business owners to deny service to someone based on their religious beliefs. Equality Virginia on Tuesday submitted a petition with more than 160,000 signatures that urges lawmakers to oppose the so-called “conscience clause” measure.

“He has set the foundation to force the equivalent of a religious test on practicing a profession in Virginia,” Marshall told the Washington Blade last week in response to McAuliffe’s veto threat. “McAuliffe’s iron-fisted intolerance is a police state tactic.”

Cobb on Tuesday criticized lawmakers over what she described as “their obsession with social issues.” ... “There is nothing here that will attract small businesses, the heart and soul of a growing economy, or encourage businesses that are seeking a fair tax or regulatory environment to come to Virginia,” said Cobb. “No one who truly wants to grow Virginia’s economy can take these proposals seriously.”

Their obsession with social issues?