Virginian Pilot Slams McDonnell on Gay Rights Failure

Unlike Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli, some people in the Commonwealth worry about the sensibilities other than the Christo-fascists at The Family Foundation, Pat Robertson's CBN studios, and the wingnuts at Liberty University. Some of those people are on the editorial board of the Virginian Pilot - hardly my idea of a stellar newspaper, but with a large circulation by Virginia standards - and they are displeased with Mr. McDonnell and are fearful of what his theocratic regime may do to Virginia. Most business leaders are not Christian Right extremists (I'll address one exception, potential 2nd District Congressional GOP candidate, Scott Rigell in a later post) and college and university faculty most definitely typically are not. As a result, a Bible centered administration is likely to be regarded as down right frightening. Particularly, if one is gay or gay friendly. Sadly, Bob McDonnell cannot see beyond the script handed to him by The Family Foundation. Here are highlights from the Pilot's main editorial give McDonnell a dressing down:
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McDonnell has adopted an equal opportunity policy that prohibits "discrimination for any reason." It doesn't actually say gay workers are included in those protections, but everyone knows that's what the governor means because he said so. However, the policy covers only about 30 people.
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But those policies don't cover the vast majority of Virginia's 103,000 state employees. They don't prevent a forensic lab technician from being rejected if she asks about domestic partnership benefits during a job interview. They don't protect a museum employee from being assigned menial tasks because of his sexual orientation.
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McDonnell refused to sign an executive order guaranteeing workplace protections to gay state employees. . . . His passive posture on job discrimination would be troubling enough if he were leaving the fate of state workers in the hands of hundreds of individual agency heads. But it's an embarrassment for McDonnell to look on helplessly as Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli bullies colleges and universities that have retained workplace protections in place for at least eight years.
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This is not only an issue of fairness; it's also relevant to McDonnell's core mission of job creation. Universities often are important players in economic development packages. James Guyette, president and chief executive officer of Rolls-Royce North America Inc., cited a research partnership with the University of Virginia as a key reason his company selected Prince George County over locations in seven other states for an aircraft engine plant three years ago. If Cuccinelli succeeds in chasing talented academics who happen to be gay out of Virginia, their loss will reverberate beyond any one campus.
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McDonnell must decide whether it's more important to pacify his political base or to run an effective state government and attract jobs to Virginia. If a nondiscrimination policy is good for his gubernatorial staff, it should be good for all state workers.