ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609160013
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
U.S. SEN. Charles Robb is not known as a talented orator. His mumbling mystifies as often as it clarifies.
Nor is he entirely credible on the subject of marriage vows, given his tawdry Virginia Beach escapades while governor of Virginia in the 1980s.
Still, the senator's impassioned floor speech this week - defending his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act - showed both eloquence and personal conviction.
``You don't have to be an advocate of same-sex marriages to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act," he pointed out. "You only have to be an opponent of discrimination.''
Quoting his late father-in-law, President Lyndon Johnson, Robb said: ```It's not hard to do what's right ... it's hard to know what's right.' We know it is right to abolish discrimination. And if we reflect on what this bill is - an attempt to discriminate - rather than on what it is packaged to be - a defense of marriage - we will come down on the right side of history.''
The Senate disagreed with Robb. It voted 85-14 for the measure that defines marriage in federal law as a legal union between one man and one woman, and allows a state to refuse to honor same-sex marriages performed in any other state.
Doubtless, many Virginians also disagree with Robb. A majority, probably, sees the legislation not as an assault against the rights of gays and lesbians, but as necessary protection against a perceived assault by gays and lesbians on the traditional family structure.
Critics of the bill rightly call it unnecessary and divisive, and an ironic rejection of the value of stable, long-term relationships. They condemn the political scapegoating involved. (Are gays really to blame for family breakdown?) They point out that the legislation attempts to circumvent the constitutional requirement for all states to extend "full faith and credit" to the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings" of other states.
Even so, one needn't subscribe to Robb's positions to appreciate the courage he showed in expressing them.
As a senator, Robb is not a grand-stander who jumps to his feet to speak on every issue. In speaking out against this legislation - the only Southern senator to do so - he presumably knew he was inviting the scorn of many Virginia voters. Assuming he seeks re-election in the year 2000, his seeming defense of same-sex marriages could be used against him.
He'll probably be criticized, too, for voting on Tuesday in favor of legislation that would ban discrimination against homosexuals in the workplace.
The Senate rejected that bill, albeit by just one vote. But we suspect, years from now, Robb's vote will register on the right side of history.
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