Naked Bigotry Update: Virginia Proposal Would Offer Anti-Gay License Plates
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Virginia is for Lovers?
Could you imagine if a legislator, in Virginia or anywhere else, introduced a measure calling for license plates saying"Abortion on Demand" (see Update) or "Prayer in Schools" or "Legalize Marijuana"?
Remind me again how it's not about naked bigotry?
More thoughts at Beaverhausen.
SIDEBAR: Virginia's anti-gay law is one of the more pernicious versions -- arguably the "contract or other arrangement" provision makes joint ownership of property by two gays unenforceable. A will conveying one's estate to one's partner would almost certainly by void. I wonder how Thomas Sowell would respond to that?
UPDATE #1: The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal regarding a similar program in South Carolina that offered, for a fee, license plates that read "Choose Life." The lower federal appeals court found the program unconstitutional. No alternative plate for pro-choice advocates was offered. The Circuit Court opinion PDF (23 pages) can be found here.
Apparently the South Carolina appeal to the Supreme Court involved a narrow question of whether Planned Parenthood has standing to sue over the "Choose Life" license plates, rather than the broader First Amendment questions.
In any event, I see no easy way to distinguish an anti-gay message from an anti-abortion message, so the constitutionality of the Virginia proposal, if ever implemented, remains unclear.
Beaverhausen has more.
UPDATE #2: Still on the subject of pro-life license plates, a similar case is being heard in Louisiana, where a option for a "Choose Life" license plate has been on hold after opponents sued. A decision in favor of allowing "political message" plates would mean a split in the federal circuits, which could eventually result in the Supreme Court taking up the issue.
Related Posts:
Gay Marriage as the "New Abolition"
Gay Marriage: Any Lessons from the Boy Scouts?
Gay Couple Told Kissing "Illegal" in Texas
"We Hate You, But In A Nice Way..."
The Ghost of Dale Continues to Haunt
Virginia lawmakers will consider legislation to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the new session of the legislature.
...
But, the legislature will also look at a measure that would put the marriage issue on license plates. The bill calls for traditional marriage to be displayed on car licenses. If passed the plates would interlocked gold wedding bands superimposed over a red heart over the legend "Traditional Marriage." The bill was authored by Delegate Scott Limgamfelter (R-Prince William) a supporter of the marriage amendment.
...
Some Democrats call the amendment repressive and unnecessary. Virginia already has legislation that prevents recognition of same-sex couples. The law, passed last year, prevents the state from recognizing gay marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships and block any "contract or other arrangement" same-sex couples may enter into.
Could you imagine if a legislator, in Virginia or anywhere else, introduced a measure calling for license plates saying
Remind me again how it's not about naked bigotry?
More thoughts at Beaverhausen.
SIDEBAR: Virginia's anti-gay law is one of the more pernicious versions -- arguably the "contract or other arrangement" provision makes joint ownership of property by two gays unenforceable. A will conveying one's estate to one's partner would almost certainly by void. I wonder how Thomas Sowell would respond to that?
UPDATE #1: The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal regarding a similar program in South Carolina that offered, for a fee, license plates that read "Choose Life." The lower federal appeals court found the program unconstitutional. No alternative plate for pro-choice advocates was offered. The Circuit Court opinion PDF (23 pages) can be found here.
Apparently the South Carolina appeal to the Supreme Court involved a narrow question of whether Planned Parenthood has standing to sue over the "Choose Life" license plates, rather than the broader First Amendment questions.
In any event, I see no easy way to distinguish an anti-gay message from an anti-abortion message, so the constitutionality of the Virginia proposal, if ever implemented, remains unclear.
Beaverhausen has more.
UPDATE #2: Still on the subject of pro-life license plates, a similar case is being heard in Louisiana, where a option for a "Choose Life" license plate has been on hold after opponents sued. A decision in favor of allowing "political message" plates would mean a split in the federal circuits, which could eventually result in the Supreme Court taking up the issue.
Related Posts:
Gay Marriage as the "New Abolition"
Gay Marriage: Any Lessons from the Boy Scouts?
Gay Couple Told Kissing "Illegal" in Texas
"We Hate You, But In A Nice Way..."
The Ghost of Dale Continues to Haunt
Posted by KipEsquire on
4 January 2005
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