McDonnell Won't Renew Ban on Discrimination Against Gays

Taliban Bob McDonnell doesn't believe in discrimination - except when he does. Like most of his campaign spin, McDonnell's claims that his views on gays and belief that gays should not face discrimination is a lie. In a statement that likely sent Pat Robertson and the folks at The Family Foundation into orgasms, McDonnell says he will not renew the Executive Orders signed by Governors Warner and Kaine that banned employment discrimination based on sexual orientation by state agencies and authorities. I guess next McDonnell will want to amend the Canons of Judicial Conduct to remove prohibitions on judicial bias based on sexual orientation - not that many judges actually heed the prohibition in reality. Despite all his claims to the contrary, McDonnell still rigidly adheres to the views set out in his CBN University thesis. If McDonnell and Ken "Kook" Cuccinelli are elected, Virginia will move backwards on many issues. Here are highlights from the Lynchburg News and Advance:

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell said Tuesday he would not renew an executive order by Virginia’s last two governors that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation for state job applicants. “I think it would be illegal to carry it forward” if he is elected governor, McDonnell said in an interview Tuesday with The News & Advance’s editorial board.

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McDonnell said during a debate Monday night with his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, that the executive order overstepped the governor’s authority. McDonnell said he told Kaine, in an opinion in 2006, that the non-discrimination issues in employment were the General Assembly’s responsibility and not the governor’s.

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Deeds has not taken a prominent role in the discrimination debate, although he cosponsored a bill in 2008 that would have prohibited discrimination based on several factors, one of which was sexual orientation. The bill never made it out of a House committee.

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My advice to gays thinking of moving to Virginia, as in the past, is don't. For gays already here, leave if you can. McDonnell's statement confirms that the only way in which Virginia will stop the open season on GLBT citizens is to have FEDERAL legislation end it, be it Congressional action or by U. S. Supreme Court ruling as in Lawrence v. Texas and Loving v. Virginia, which ended bans on interracial marriage. Virginia is a very bigoted state.