Winsome Sears Addresses Grads at Extreme Anti-LGBT, Anti-Choice Schools

Currently, here in Virginia, Winsome Sears (pictured at right), the MAGA extremist Republican gubernatorial candidate is running extremely deceptive ads that seek to portray her as a normal, sane, everyday person and seek to dupe voters into not realizing she is a far right extremist.  Sears is a lover of the Felon - she has said he was sent by god - a proponent of a total abortion ban, anti-gun control, an opponent of DEI, and virulently anti-LGBT among other things.  One can only hope that Abagail Spanberger, the Democrat candidate for governor, soon runs some ads with video clips of Sears voicing her actual extremist views.  GOP governor Glenn Youngkin has sought to take Virginia backwards in time - thankfully the Democrat controlled General Assembly has blocked much of this effort - but his regime pales in comparison to what the far right extremist agenda that Sears supports.  Youngkin, in my view is an opportunist courting the MAGA base whereas Sears is a Kool-Aid drinking true believer. Currently, Virginia remains the most progressive state in the former Confederacy and it is crucial that Democrats retake the governorship and retain control of both houses of the General Assembly in the November elections.  A piece in The Advocate looks at Sears' addresses at far right schools:

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, now the Republican nominee for governor, continues to cement her far-right platform with appearances at two schools that openly denounce LGBTQ+ people and reproductive freedom. Her commencement speech at Regent University and an upcoming one at Atlantic Shores Christian School, a private pre-k through 12 institution, are the latest signals that she is not moderating her views for a general election campaign — she’s leaning in.

Regent’s official doctrine affirms that marriage exists only between one man and one woman and opposes abortion in nearly all cases, asserting that life begins at conception. Its facilities may not be used for anything deemed inconsistent with its interpretation of biblical teachings, including affirming same-sex relationships or transgender identities. Regents holds that abortion is “tantamount to murder.” . . . The school’s policies prohibit “homosexual conduct,” which they categorize alongside “pornography, premarital sex, adultery,” and “lewd, indecent, or obscene conduct,” and require all student leaders and employees to adhere to its biblical code of sexual ethics strictly.

Earlier this month, Earle-Sears spoke at Regent University, where she earned an M.A. in 2003. The late televangelist and longtime anti-LGBTQ+ firebrand Pat Robertson founded the school in 1977. . . . He blamed “abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbiainfamously ns” for the 9/11 attacks, saying America had invited God’s wrath. These beliefs remain embedded in the culture and code of the university where Earle-Sears chose to deliver a celebratory address. Earle-Sears did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment.

Earle-Sears is scheduled to stand at the podium again on June 6 — this time at Atlantic Shores Christian School in Chesapeake, another institution whose statement of faith declares that homosexuality and bisexuality are “sinful and prohibited.”

These are not isolated incidents. They are consistent with Earle-Sears’ long record of pushing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policy. Last year, she wrote a personal note of moral opposition on HB174, a bill passed by the General Assembly to prohibit marriage discrimination, Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate WRC reports. The bill protects couples from being denied a license based on sex, gender, or race. Earle-Sears, required by her state constitutional role to sign it, instead added a handwritten message declaring her personal opposition.

Her campaign has also made national headlines for an incendiary fundraising email comparing DEI programs to slavery. “Slaves did not die in the fields so that we could call ourselves victims now,” the email read. The campaign did not disavow the language. Video from 2023 shows her delivering the same message aloud, Politicoreports.

Last year, Earle-Sears apologized after she misgendered Sen. Danica Roem, the first out transgender state senator in Virginia.

Virginia currently has some of the strongest LGBTQ+ protections in the South.