Same-sex couples will ask for licenses here (Richmond Va.)

[underpants]

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031773659351&path=!news&s=1045855934842

Mary Gay Hutcherson and Yolanda Farnum already have said, "I do," but they fully expect the government clerk to tell them, "You can't."

Nevertheless, Hutcherson and Farnum and as many as nine other gay or lesbian couples plan to visit Richmond's John Marshall Courts Building today and apply for marriage licenses.

Their effort is part of National Freedom to Marry Week, which aims to raise awareness about the lack of marriage rights for gays. This will mark the first year an organized group of gay and lesbian couples has planned to gather at the Richmond marriage license office, Hutcherson said.

Here in Virginia, the House of Delegates recently voted 77-18 in favor of a resolution urging Congress to propose a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

However, Virginia seems unlikely to change its marriage laws, and it's more than the statute that prohibits same-sex marriage, said a spokesman for Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore.

"Virginia rejects the policy of equivalency between heterosexual couples and same-sex couples," said Tim Murtaugh, the spokesman. "Such equivalency is not established by the laws and policies of the Commonwealth and is, in fact, contrary to the public policy of the Commonwealth."