My friend Michael Lavers has a piece in the Washington Blade that looks at legislation introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in the area of gay rights and suggests that it is a "New Day" in Virginia politics. I would like to believe that Michael is correct, but one huge obstacle - actually two obstacles - stand in the way of a real change in Virginia politics. First and foremost, there is the GOP controlled House of Delegates where trashing gays and blocking pro-gay legislation is perceived as a fun sport. And then, behind the scenes and largely controlling the Virginia GOP, there is the foul "family values" organization, The Family Foundation ("TFF"), which is a hate group in all but formal designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Gays, of course, are not the only target of TFF - the organization has white supremacist undertones and is constantly waging a war on women as well. Here are excerpts from Michael's piece:
Efforts to ban anti-LGBT discrimination and repeal a state constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex marriage are among the priorities for Virginia LGBT rights advocates during the 2014 legislative session that begins on Wednesday.
State Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico County) has once again introduced a bill that would ban discrimination against state employees based on their sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
The state Senate last January approved the measure by a 24-16 vote margin, but a Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee subsequently killed it. Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe has repeatedly said the first executive order he will issue once he takes office on Saturday is a ban on anti-LGBT discrimination against state employees.
McEachin, state Sens. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and Janet Howell (D-Fairfax County) and state Dels. Joe Morrissey (D-Henrico County), Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax County), Rob Krupicka (D-Alexandria), Ken Plum (D-Fairfax County) and Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) have sponsored proposed resolutions that would seek a repeal of the commonwealth’s same-sex marriage ban that voters in 2006 approved by a 57-43 percent margin. Howell and state Del. Joseph Yost (R-Giles County) are expected to introduce bills in their respective chambers that would extend second-parent adoption rights to gays and lesbians.
State Del.-elect Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church) has pre-filed a bill that would ban anti-LGBT employment discrimination in the commonwealth. State Del. Ron Villanueva (R-Virginia Beach) has introduced an identical measure.
Simon has also proposed a measure that seeks to add sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to the Virginia Fair Housing Law.
State Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington County) next week is expected to introduce a bill that would ban so-called “ex-gay” conversion therapy to minors in the commonwealth.
Parrish said his group will also oppose a measure state Del. Bob Marshall (D-Prince William County) introduced that would require married same-sex couples to file their Virginia income tax returns as single individuals because the commonwealth does not recognize their unions. This measure seeks to codify the policy outgoing Gov. Bob McDonnell announced in November.
“We have been reaching out to the new administration though about what we can possibly do about that very punitive tax opinion that came out of the [outgoing Gov. Bob] McDonnell administration,” said Parrish.
The 2014 legislative session will begin three days before McAuliffe, Lieutenant Gov.-elect Ralph Northam and Attorney General-elect Mark Herring take office.
All three men publicly support marriage rights for same-sex couples. It remains unclear whether McAuliffe and Herring will defend Virginia’s gay marriage ban in two federal lawsuits that challenge it.
“It’s a new day,” Ebbin told the Blade as he discussed McAuliffe, Northam and Herring. “We’ll be dealing with people who are looking to help us instead of looking to harm and stymie us.”
Parrish said the tone from the governor and the attorney general’s offices will be “a 180” compared to McDonnell and outgoing Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. He added the House will continue to remain a barrier to advancing LGBT-specific legislation during this legislative session.
The support of State Del. Ron Villanueva (R-Virginia Beach) on the non-discrimination bill is a pleasant surprise. But then, Villanueva is not a white Protestant and he may well realize that he is disliked by the white supremacists at TFF almost as much as the gays. TFF is truly an evil and insidious organization that continues to strive for a Christian theocracy and a return to the days of the Jim Crow laws.
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