Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 1, 1994 TAG: 9402010157
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Gay rights leaders reacted angrily. "This is homophobic bigotry," said Thomas Long, chairman of the Hampton Roads Lesbian and Gay Pride Coalition. "The Republican Party in Virginia and the United States has been very vigorous in its anti-gay bigotry."
House Minority Leader Vance Wilkins, R-Amherst, announced that all 47 GOP delegates have endorsed a state budget amendment that would deny state health benefits to the partners of homosexual state employees.
The action came in response to a resolution last week by the College of William and Mary's faculty association urging the school to grant benefits to same-sex partners. Staffs at nine other state schools, including Old Dominion University, are considering similar requests.
"Virginia's government is not in the business of subsidizing lawbreaking," Wilkins said, referring to a Virginia statute banning sodomy.
In a terse letter to the presidents and boards of trustees of state colleges, Wilkins said: "Virginia taxpayers will not be called on to pay for the health risks incurred in so-called `same-sex marriages,' nor will we condone such activity or allow it to permeate our college campuses.
"College campuses ought to be unique places where young people are encouraged toward civic virtue. . . . Any further faculty positions taken to undermine the traditional family structure will fall on deaf ears in the House Republican Caucus. We expect you to get your house in order."
Wilkins shrugged off accusations that the Republicans were gay-bashing. "We expected people would say that," he said. "If that's the way they want to perceive it, that's their prerogative."
In addition to William and Mary and ODU, other schools where gay and lesbian employees are negotiating with administrators for wider benefits are the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, Mary Washington College, Richard Bland College, Thomas Nelson Community College and Radford University.
The universities have said they are powerless to expand health benefits without approval by the General Assembly.
Wilkins said he is confident the GOP budget amendment can win approval in the House, where Republicans hold 47 of 100 seats and expect support from some Democrats. He said he expects Republicans in the Senate, where the party has 18 of 40 seats, also can gain sufficient backing from Democrats.
George Greenia, a foreign language professor at William and Mary who is leading the statewide effort, called the Republican action "short-sighted."
He said many leading universities outside Virginia - including Harvard, Yale and Columbia - already offer benefits to same-sex mates of faculty members.
Greenia said the cost of the benefits is low, because many university employees are reluctant to openly admit their homosexuality. At William and Mary, he said, only six staff members have requested health insurance for their partners. Because of that, it would cost only about $36,000 annually, he said.
Despite the GOP stand, Greenia said efforts to expand benefits will continue at state schools. "This will be a long-term effort," he said. "It's unfortunate that the Republicans cut off the debate this year without knowing the facts."
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.