Virginia Grassroots Mobilize to Push State Marriage Amendment

by Ed Thomas and Jody Brown
September 14, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Supporters of the drive in Virginia for a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex "marriage" say they know the effort must have the participation of Christian voters to get the ballot measure to pass this November.

Family Foundation of Virginia spearheaded its va4Marriage campaign with other pro-family groups after studying successful amendment drives in other states. Spokesman Chris Freund says from those observations, he does not think a marriage amendment will pass in Virginia without the Christian church and conservatives getting involved and also getting to the polls.

"I say that because we've seen in all the states that have passed these amendments where it's the church that took the lead," Freund notes. "And it was the pastor standing in the pulpit and boldly speaking out about these amendments that really motivated the electorate," he adds.

Also, the pro-family advocate points out, the participation of religious conservatives in this effort is also important because the va4Marriage initiative has money constraints. "We're not going to have a million-dollar media campaign to run television commercials to get people to the polls," he says. "We need people in churches to do that, and pastors, so I think it's absolutely critical to passing the amendment that the church is involved."

It is going to require a strong grassroots effort through the churches to defeat the big dollars opponents can pour into negative media coverage and disinformation efforts, Freund contends. And he and other supporters of the homosexual marriage ban feel it will take at least a million votes to make sure the Virginia marriage amendment passes.

"So we're really hoping to reach that million-vote mark," the Family Foundation of Virginia spokesman says, "and I would love to see even a million and two, to really put us up toward that 70 percent mark here in Virginia."

Meanwhile, students at 20 colleges across the state have come together under the banner of Students-4-Marriage to rally support for the November ballot issue that would amend the state constitution to protect traditional marriage. On campuses statewide, the student group hopes to host rallies at which a representatives from one of the coalition schools, Patrick Henry College, will debate opponents on the amendment issue.

Victoria Cobb, a spokeswoman for va4Marriage, says many students on Virginia's college and university campuses "hold deep convictions on values that are important," and the Students-4-Marriage initiative "is evidence that these students are willing to stand up for those values."

In addition to the Students-4-Marriage group at Patrick Henry College, other schools forming pro-traditional marriage chapters include the University of Virginia, Regent University, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, Liberty University, James Madison University, Roanoke College, and many others.