Our own Jonathan Rauch, a Virginia resident, takes aim at Virginia's law set take effect July 1 that will nullify all "contracts or arrangements" between two members of the same sex that seek to bestow marriage-like rights. In his Sunday op-ed in the Washington Post, he also reminds us that Virginia is the only state to forbid private companies, unless self-insured, from extending health insurance coverage to employees' domestic partners.
Writes Rauch of the new statute:
When Rhea County, Tenn., tried to ban gays from living there, it became a national laughingstock and hastily backed down. Obstructing gay couples' private contracts is no less vindictive and abusive, and it deserves the same nationwide opprobrium...
If Virginia's attack on basic legal equality does not offend and embarrass conservatives, what anti-gay measure possibly could? And if this law is not snuffed out, what might be next?
Two good questions.