"Time and again, Charlottesville has proved itself a liberal’s blue oasis in Virginia’s otherwise flaming red political landscape. Now City Council is telling its gay citizens that while Virginia may be for haters as far as they are concerned, Charlottesville is still for lovers of all persuasions.

On Monday, November 1, Council approved a legislative package by 4-1 (with Republican Rob Schilling dissenting, as usual) that, among other things, will ask the General Assembly to repeal the controversial H.B. 751, which bans civil unions between persons of the same sex.

The request comes as part of the City’s annual “legislative program,” a list of 18 policy statements and requests for action from Council to the General Assembly. The request to repeal H.B. 751 (which became state law in July) came from Councilor Blake Caravati. He says gay and straight constituents have encouraged him to officially oppose the controversial law that not only nullifies civil unions performed in other states, but also a variety of other contracts and agreements between people of the same sex.

“Everything you do in the civil realm is threatened if you’re gay,” Caravati tellsC-VILLE. “There’s quite a few ideologues out there that are out to get homosexual people, ignoring the fact that we live in Virginia, the seat of revolutionary freedom.”

Freedom seems none too popular, however—on November 2, 11 states, following Virginia’s lead, resoundingly supported bans on same-sex marriage. Virginia’s Republican-dominated legislature isn’t likely to take Charlottesville’s proposal seriously (“Maybe I should combine it with a Ten Commandments display,” Caravati quips), but gay rights activists say the symbolism in Council’s gesture nonetheless is appreciated.

“The message they’re trying to send to Richmond,” says UVA Pride activist Claire Kaplan, “is the institution of heterosexual marriage is not harmed by encouraging strong families elsewhere.”

But even around Charlottesville, not everyone sees it that way. Marnie Deaton, who runs the Central Virginia Family Forum, says via e-mail that her group believes civil unions are “dangerous” because they are available to both gay and straight couples.

“Civil unions would basically create a second-class union,” Deaton says, “that would be easily dissolved, leaving deserted spouses without any avenue for alimony or legal claim to repair the union.”

In the past, Council has also passed resolutions to oppose the Iraq invasion and the PATRIOT Act. Conservatives say these kinds of actions take away from regular Council business—which conservatives often don’t much care for, either.

“If you just want something cheeky,” Deaton continues, assessing the possible upside to Council’s proclivity for symbolic gestures, “time that the Council spends on such resolutions is time not spent finding creative ways to spend tax dollars that conservatives consider outside the legitimate purposes of government.” (John Borgmeyer, C-Ville Weekly, November 9, 2004)