Back in October we noted that the Family Policy Council of West Virginia was pressing the Governor and state legislature to put an anti-gay marriage amendment on the next ballot based entirely on a poll they took that reportedly showed that more than 70% of voters would support such an amendment. Shortly thereafter, the call was seconded by the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists and now the Family Policy Council is starting to mobilize right-wing support in order to force the Governor and legislature to place an amendment on the ballot
Members of West Virginia’s religious communities are mobilizing to protect traditional marriage.
The Family Policy Council of West Virginia has taken the lead in asking Democratic Governor Joe Manchin and the legislature to let voters decide whether to change the state’s constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage.” Jeremiah Dys, founder of The Family Policy Council of West Virginia, explains the apparent conservative viewpoint.
“They do not want their government setting a policy, and they especially do not want courts imposing a system that…deprives children of a mom or a dad — and so we’re simply asking our legislature, we’re asking our governor especially, to lead the effort to allow West Virginians to do what they want to do,” he notes.
As we noted last time, West Virginia does not have a petition process allowing citizens to gather signatures and place a constitutional amendment on the ballot so any such amendment must first pass through the state House and Senate, both of which are controlled by Democrats, so it is up to the Family Policy Council to pressure them into letting West Virginians “do what they want to do” and pass an anti-gay constitutional amendment so as to ensure that the courts don’t “deprive children of a mom or a dad.”
