Hi y'all, a bill has been submitted to the House of Delegates in Richmond (pre-filed, will go in to the record on the 14th) by Del Rob Marshall -R. It is his latest salvo in his crusade against the LGBT community. Basically any person, business or institution - public or private - can deny service to anyone in the LGBT community under a "conscience clause”
Slate does a great job of describing how outrageous the bill is but doesn't really do justice to how freaking ludicrous the verbiage in the bill really is and how weak the bill is on precedence, etc. Now, you may be thinking, how can this bill be any more outrageous than it already appears to be???? Well.....Marshall's bill actually cites language in from the original Constitution (the 1st Amendment to be precise) THAT WAS ACTUALLY REMOVED from the Constitution prior to it being adopted. House Bill Number 1414 .......I guess Marshall thinks the Founding Father's erred...?
Of course, the right wing machine is beating the hustings on this bill already, claiming that every pastor in the Commonwealth is at risk of losing their jobs unless this bill is passed. Marshall makes very clear that he is attempting to legislate his own religious views in to law as this news article from makes World Now clear. A tidbit....
"The homosexual litigants could not get their way in Virginia through the legislature," said Del. Bob Marshall (R-Manassas). "So they went to the courts. If there is any discrimination, it is attempting to compel me, and people like me, to accept behavior that I can read in the scripture or in the traditions of my church as very damaging to your soul and to your health."
Long story short.....sh*t like this is exhibit A for why every vote counts.
I'll keep track of this bill and report back anything I hear.