Thursday, October 5, 2006

virginia is not for gay lovers

Dear Virginia Office of Tourism,

It is my understanding that the state tourism motto is “Virginia is for Lovers.” When I first heard of this motto, I thought it was very cute, so much so that I really wanted a shirt with the motto. When I started dating Jesse, my boyfriend and a Virginia native, I found out for myself that Virginia truly is for lovers! Because you do not specify in your motto, I thought it was safe to assume that Virginia is for all lovers—dog lovers, ice cream lovers, Hokie lovers. Your motto may pretend to be all encompassing, but I now know that it is not. I urge you to drop the motto because you are lying to the public.

In 2005, the Virginia state government voted overwhelmingly for the inclusion of hate in the state constitution—by defining marriage to be solely between a man and woman. On November 7th , 2006, Virginia voters will have the opportunity to vote to approve this hate and officially amend the state constitution. Although I am not surprised by this turn of events, I am appalled that the state government feels a state constitutional amendment is necessary when there is already a state ban on civil unions in place.

So, if the state of Virginia (or commonwealth, I suppose) is legislating with hate, where is this love that is mentioned in your motto? Since the state government has decided not to allow for the union between gay lovers, I have concluded that Virginia is not for all lovers since it’s clearly not for gay lovers. In that case, your tourism motto is misleading.

Since your motto is incorrect, I urge you to correct it. Please specify what kind of lovers Virginia is for. If you feel that perhaps these specifications of love are not necessary, then consider dropping the tourism motto. It is dishonest to mislead any potential visitors to your state. Rather than lie, be specific about the kind of love you approve or drop the act. Until you do so, I will not be wearing my “Virginia is for lovers” shirt (even if it was one of the first gifts Jesse gave me). I refuse to promote your lies.

If you’re willing to vote your hate of gay unions into your state constitution, you should be willing to amend your tourism motto to state, “Virginia is for straight lovers.” After all, that’s the only kind of love you approve of, right?

Sincerely,
an OC girl against hate

6 comments:

Bill said...

I suggest Virginia is for Hate Lovers.

an orange county girl said...

that definitely works too.

Anonymous said...

Oh, it's worse than you think. The first paragraph of the amendment does specify that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Bad enough, but they didn't stop there. The second paragraph is out to slam "unmarried individuals." It stomps all over the contractual rights of any couple (same sex or not) who would dare live in a style approximating marriage. Hope you haven't moved in with your boyfriend and signed a lease together, or bought a house or done anything else married people might do. This isn't just a gay marriage amendment; it's a "we hate anyone who isn't in a 1950's-style nuclear family" amendment.

Virginia is for married, heterosexual lovers. And jerks, apparently. To learn more, check out: http://www.votenova.org

an orange county girl said...

grrl--thanks for the info. i didn't realize that about the proposed amendment. this thing just gets scarier and scarier.

an orange county girl said...

excellent suggestion, james!

bad apologies said...

I LIKE it. My boyfriend sent me an image of his friend's t-shirt, doctored up to read your slogan. Damn if I could only figure out how to put images in comments, etc. Now I'm just waiting for cafe press to carry it!