Reflections on The EV Commonwealth Dinner

Yours truly and Mark Herring

Last night's Commonwealth Dinner was quite a gala affair and as always a great deal of fun.  Hampton Roads was well represented and we had plenty of friends with whom to share the festivities.  And then there were all the political types in attendance.  As were the four plaintiffs in Bostic v. Rainey. As were Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post (who I had the fun of chatting with) and Laverne Cox.  U.S. Senator Mark Warner gave a rousing speech, but perhaps the biggest round of applause went to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, a hero to many LGBT Virginians.  The Washington Blade has a recap of some of the evening:

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring on Saturday said the same-sex couples who are challenging the commonwealth’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman are not asking for “special treatment.”

“They’re not asking for special privileges,” he said during the annual Equality Virginia Commonwealth Dinner at the Greater Richmond Convention Center that Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post emceed and during which Laverne Cox of “Orange is the New Black” delivered the keynote address. “They’re just asking to be treated fairly and equally.”

Herring – who announced in January shortly after taking office that he would not defend the marriage amendment that Virginia voters approved in 2006 – said one of the “great missions of attorney general is the pursuit of justice.” He told the more than 1,000 people who attended the Equality Virginia dinner he thought about what he described as the importance of the commonwealth’s position on the issue before U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen in February heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the state’s same-sex marriage ban that Timothy Bostic and Tony London of Norfolk and Carol Schall and Mary Townley of Chesterfield filed last year.

“We as Virginians have so much to be proud of in our long history, but the truth is there have been times when courageous Virginians were leading the way on civil rights and a lot of elected officials, including the attorney general were standing in the way,” said Herring, referring to former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who opposes marriage rights for same-sex couples. “I was determined not to let the injustice of Virginia’s position in those past cases happen this time. This time the commonwealth, speaking through it’s attorney general, would stand up to protect for those individuals and all its people fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.”

“We still have a long way to go and a lot of hard work lies ahead of us.” said Herring. “Let’s keep working together to make sure that Virginia’s on the right side of the law and let’s keep working together to make sure Virginia’s on the right side of history.”

 It was indeed a glittering evening.  Here are some additional photos:

Me, Mark Herring and the boyfriend

Lt. Governor Northam and his wonderful wife

Some of the Norfolk crowd

This morning we are headed to the always fun and outrageous "drag brunch" at Godfrey's a few blocks from our hotel.