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2005 SESSION

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050376404
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 586 FLOOR AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by Delegates Byron, Cosgrove, and Marshall, R.G. on February 8, 2005) (Patrons Prior to Substitute--Delegates Cosgrove, Marshall, R.G. [HJR 584], and Byron [HJR 615]) Proposing an amendment to Article I of the Constitution of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15-A, relating to the institution of marriage and prohibiting any other legal union that purports to grant the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage including but not limited to so-called same-sex marriages, same-sex civil unions, same-sex domestic partnerships, and the like.

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, a majority of the members elected to each house agreeing, That marriage is essential to the liberty, happiness, and prosperity of a free and virtuous people and is, among other things, the natural and optimal institution for uniting the two sexes in a committed, complementary, and conjugal partnership; for begetting posterity; and for providing children with the surest opportunity to be raised by their mother and father; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the following amendment to the Constitution of Virginia be, and the same hereby is, proposed and referred to the General Assembly at its first regular session held after the next general election of members of the House of Delegates for its concurrence in conformity with the provisions of Section 1 of Article XII of the Constitution of Virginia, namely:

Amend Article I of the Constitution of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15-A as follows:

ARTICLE I BILL OF RIGHTS

Section 15-A. Marriage.

That in this Commonwealth, a marriage shall consist exclusively of the union of one man and one woman. Neither the Commonwealth nor its political subdivisions shall create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage. 

Any other right, benefit, obligation, or legal status pertaining to persons not married is otherwise not altered or abridged by this section.