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Virginia Expands Ban on Homosexual "Marriage" to Include Civil Unions

Law said necessary to prevent homosexuals attaining legal marriage status by some other process

RICHMOND, May 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Virginia has passed one of America's strictest restrictions on homosexual partnerships Wednesday, banning same-sex civil unions. The new law amends the 1997 Affirmation of Marriage Act, which already disallows homosexual marriage. The new legislation also makes illegal any "arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage."

Republican Robert Marshall, sponsor of the bill, argued the law is necessary to prevent homosexuals from attaining to the legal status of marriage by some other process. "Civil union is a proxy for marriage and domestic partnership is a proxy for civil unions," he said, as reported by The Associated Press.

To date, thirty-eight states have banned recognition of homosexual 'marriage'. Three states - California, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C. - allow domestic partnership status, whereas Vermont and New Jersey recognize homosexual civil unions. One state, Massachusetts, has legalized gay marriage.

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