Richmond, Virginia— Tonight, supporters of the three constitutional amendments rallied in support in advance of Election Day on Tuesday. They were joined by representatives from the three amendment campaigns and elected officials to support the right to reproductive freedom, the freedom to marry, and the freedom to vote. This is a rare opportunity for voters to participate in direct democracy to protect their fundamental rights, and energized supporters came together to get updates from organizers with all three campaigns, hear from storytellers who have been directly impacted by the issues, and foster community. Some highlights from the evening include:
“I was standing in a long line in a fast food restaurant when I opened a letter from the Commonwealth,” said Carol Bradley-Cousins of Richmond. ‘When I read it, tears started streaming down my face. It was better than winning the lottery to me. After years of trying, Virginia had finally restored my voting rights. In 2008, I had to stay on the sidelines in the election, and I couldn’t cast a ballot for the first African American president and it tore my heart out. The extra years felt like time added to my sentence. Without the vote, I was not a full citizen. That’s why Question Three matters. No politician should be able to take away my vote.”
“I grew up in a very controlling and strict environment. Information about my own body was often hidden from me, or simply not talked about. Eventually, I reached a point where I had to take control of my own body, my own autonomy, and my own future—regardless of what my family thought,” said Anna Ndahi, a student at VCU. “I often think about how different my story might have been if those resources, that privacy, and that access to care had not been available to me. That’s why passing the reproductive freedom amendment is so important to me.”
“As a married couple, Virginia has played a huge role in our lives: we have made friends here and we have built a family here,” said Justin Lo and Luke Norris of Richmond. “Virginia’s constitution is our mission statement, and right now it declares that some loving relationships don’t have the same validity as everyone else’s, some marriages don’t deserve the same recognition as others, and some lives don’t deserve the same recognition as everyone else. Marriage discrimination was enacted before the iPhone came out. This doesn’t reflect our values. Love is not up for political debate. Family is not up for political debate. Let’s vote yes on Question Two and every other question on that ballot.”
“Let’s tell the truth of the matter”, said Secretary Candi Mundon King. “The truth is right down in Chesterfield county, there’s a rally full of hypocrites telling people to vote no on all three, and I’m gonna tell you why. It’s the hypocrisy of them. They want you to vote no on reproductive freedom while they are paying for abortions across state lines. They want you to vote no on marriage equality while they use their Grindr accounts so much it shuts down. When it comes to question number three, the real hypocrisy is why are you afraid of people voting? This isn’t about Democrats. This isn’t about Republicans. It is about the fundamental American value, the right to vote. What are they afraid of? They are afraid someone might go to their website and see how ineffective they are and not only decide to vote, but to run against them.”
“Virginia is leading the South and the nation by enshrining the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, marriage equality, and the right to vote in our Constitution. Because we will not let our children’s rights be stripped away like ours,” said Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan.
