July 14, 2009 - Marriage Amendment Sub-Committee Meets. A two hour meeting was held by joint members of the legislature to further delve into the actual need of placing a marriage amendment on the 2010 ballot. Groups were given time to explain their reasons for and against the proposed marriage amendment. After their presentations were completed, a question and answer session was provide. Those wanting a chance to vote on strengthening marriage laws within West Virginia outshined those that opposed the measure. Click here to find your delegate and senator to send them an email with the subject line saying "Please support my right to vote on a marriage amendment."

2009 Legislature - Senator Jeffrey Kessler, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Delete Barbara Fleischauer, chairwoman of the Constitutional Revision Committee, will first determine if these constitutional amendment resolutions get a chance to be voted on by both Houses. Senator Kessler has a long history of advocating special homosexual rights issues and opposing issues that, in his mind, are detrimental to the homosexual cause.

At this time, email Senator Kessler and urge him to run SJR-7 in his committee. Email Delegate Fleischauer on HJR-5 and request her to bring the resolution before her committee. Both bills will die in committee if not placed on their committee agendas for an up or down vote. Click on our red marriage buttons, located on our homepage, for talking points for your emails.

Governor Joe Manchin need to hear from you. Please do the following:

Here's some history on the need for a constitutional amendment on marriage.
The West Virginia State Constitution allows for citizens to have the opportunity to vote on amending the Constitution at the ballot box. This is the only sure way to guarantee that an activist WV Supreme Court will not strike down West Virginia’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) from a constitutional challenge from groups like the ACLU of West Virginia.

Our organization was a leading force in passing West Virginia’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed into law on April 4, 2000 by Governor Cecil Underwood. At that time, we were comfortable with this law being able to protect traditional marriage, but much has changed since then.  Activist courts, such as Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut, have struck down similar laws in favor of homosexual marriage. Furthermore, the actions by the West Virginia Supreme Court to unilaterally add “sexual orientation” into its ethics rules as a recognized protected class, contrary to the West Virginia legislature and the laws of our state, plus the June 27, 2005 decision to grant custody of a 5 year old boy to a lesbian lover over the maternal grand-parents, removes any doubt in our mind that we must act quickly!

One must ask the question: “Why would any elected official not want to allow its citizens the constitutional right and opportunity to vote on providing the strongest protection to the God ordained institution of marriage, especially in light of what the West Virginia Supreme Court has already done in promoting the homosexual agenda?” Click here to read the legal opinion from the American Family Association on this issue and the danger West Virginia families are in by simply relying on our DOMA law.

Previous history on our Marriage Protection amendment efforts:

2008 Legislature - Senator Jeffrey Kessler, representing Marshall county and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has again allowed this important resolution to die in his committee and denied committee members another opportunity to vote on Senate Joint Resolution SJR16 (Marriage Protection Amendment). He was encouraged to allow a vote on identical resolutions offered in previous legislative sessions by many of his fellow senators and co-sponsors, who support traditional marriage between “one man and one woman”.

WVFF is confident that had Senator Kessler allowed the resolution to come before his committee, it would be pass out of his committee and on to a supportive Senate Finance committee and then on the Senate floor for pass on to the House for consideration and expected passage.

2007 Legislature - Senator Jeffrey Kessler, representing Marshall county and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, refused to bring the Senate Joint Resolution SJR-8 (Marriage Protection Amendment) before his committee for an up or down vote. He was encourage to allow a vote on the resolution by many of his fellow senators and co-sponsors of this resolution who support traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

WVFF gathered the signatures of nineteen co-sponsors for this constitutional amendment. Senator Roman Prezioso, of Marion county, was the lead sponsor of this resolution. Co-sponsors were Bailey, Boley, Deem, Edgell, Fanning, Green, Guills, Hall, Helmick, Love, McKenzie, Minard, Oliverio, Plymale, Sharp, and Sypolt. Senators Bowman and Caruth signed on as co-sponsors but later removed their names from the resolution, leaving seventeen senators as co-sponsors, however, both indicated they would support passage of the resolution if it came before them for a vote. The amendment, if passed, would be placed on the ballot in 2008 and allow voters the opportunity to strengthen West Virginia's one man-one woman marriage law by adding a constitutional amendment to the West Virginia State Constitution. The language for the proposed amendment was drafted by the American Family Association, WVFF's national affiliate, and reads as follows:
 
"Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for same-sex relationships to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities or effects of marriage".

2006 Legislature - This same resolution language died in Delegate Joe Talbott's Constitutional Revision commmittee in the 2006 session. He too refused to allow a vote in his committee when there was a super majority wanting to consider this legislation.