The Fightin' Andys - Valentine's Day always seems to be a popular time for gay activism. This year, a couple of recent UVa graduates decided to take on the University on the issue of domestic partner benefits, which it does not offer. While I certainly applaud their goal, I have to question their tactics.

Prominent Class of '03 activists Andrew Borchini and Andrew Bond have organized a boycott of alumni charitable giving, centered around a website called DontGiveToUVa.com. They ask that alums donate to their group instead, saying the funds will go to buy health insurance for partners of gay employees. Even assuming their bona fides, these guys are asking for as much as $100,000 in donations without generating much confidence in their group. The primitive website provides little information and less comfort for the donor. There's no sign of mature governance, accounting controls, wise investment policies or the like. Do they intend to get qualified under IRC 501(c)(3) so that donations to them would be tax-deductible, as gifts to the school are? These are basic concerns any purported charity should be able to answer. Caveat donor.

Aside from such issues, the entire premise of their protest may be misplaced. DontGive alleges that UVa could offer DP benefits if only it wanted to, but university spokespeople claim that Virginia state law doesn't allow any such thing. A recent student paper article tried to get to the bottom of this issue, without much resolution. Yet if we let gay faculty be our guide, at least one senior member seems to think the protest is doing more harm than good.

The confrontation boils down to disputed legal interpretations. The administration is reportedly standing on an Attorney General's rulling that "providing partner health insurance is a matter of state law rather than of university policy, and that universities have no flexibility in this area." (Note: I haven't been able to find this AG opinion, unless they are reading between the lines from this one from 1997.) The DontGivers for their part claim that "law on this matter is vague at best" and that "top legal scholars differ" on whether the University can offer such benefits. Maybe they are right on so-called "soft benefits," like library or rec center privileges, but on health insurance, I have my doubts. Neither the law nor the courts are favorable in Virginia on this topic.

We come back to an issue I've wondered about before. Does the University really have powers that Virginia counties clearly don't under a 2000 supreme court's decision? True, that case turned on "Dillon's Rule" limiting the powers of municipalities. Regardless, I think the Andys bear the burden of proof on this issue. No subject is nearer and dearer to the hearts of public university lawyers than the degree to which they are regulated as a government - as opposed to private - entity. I have e-mailed the site, and if I get more info, I will post it here. Until then, I'm going to remain as skeptical of their legal reasoning as I am of the rest of the project.

Bonus coverage: Here's an update on the two pro-gay bills making their way through the current General Assembly session. The House has narrowly passed the DP health insurance bill (50-49!), while the Senate has tabled the sodomy reform legislation until next year, despite its being passed somewhat convincingly (9-6) by the Courts of Justice committee. Hope the insurance bill fares better following transmittal to the upper house.