Bill to Ban anti-LGBT Discrimination Introduced in General Assembly

Bills to ban anti-LGBT discrimination have been introduced in the Virginia General Assembly for years now, but most never even got a vote.  Instead, Republicans killed the bills in committee, ignoring the fact that most Virginians supported the legislation.  This year, with the Republican Party of Virginia in the minority and the hate merchants at The Family Foundation no longer dictating policy, the bill introduced by Virginia state Senator Adam Ebbin is likely to pass and Governor Ralph Northam (with whom I have spoken on this issue) will enthusiastically sign the bill into law. Contemplating the coming shrieks and wailing of the maven of hate, Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation, when this happens is, to me, nothing but exquisite.  A piece in the Washington Blade looks at the 2020 bill's introduction.  Here are excerpts:

Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) has introduced a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination law.

Senate Bill 868 — also known as the Virginia Values Act — would prohibit anti-LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit. The measure has been referred to the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee.

“This legislation creates a critical update to Virginia law and sends a clear message that the Commonwealth is a safe and welcoming place for all people,” said James Parrish, director of the Virginia Values Coalition, a group of LGBTQ advocacy groups that supports the bill, on Friday in a press release. “It is imperative lawmakers pass the Virginia Values Act in the General Assembly.”

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax County) last month said during a press conference with Parrish, Equality Virginia Executive Director Vee Lamneck, Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David and other activists that passage of a comprehensive LGBTQ nondiscrimination is a 2020 legislative priority. Governor Ralph Northam and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax County) are among those who support the bill.

“Nondiscrimination protections are long overdue for Virginia’s LGBTQ community,” said Lamneck in Friday’s press release.

“The Virginia Values Act will ensure LGBTQ people are treated fairly and equitably by the laws of the state and have the opportunity to earn a living, access housing and healthcare, and participate fully in society,” they added. “This bill represents an important step to move our state forward.”

“For years, LGBTQ people living in Virginia have faced discrimination,” added David.

“The Virginia Values Act will not only provide critical protections for LGBTQ Virginians, but expand existing civil rights laws to provide recourse for discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, and veteran status. Virginia voters sent pro-equality majorities to Richmond to make this change, and we look forward to working with the House of Delegates and the Senate to pass the Virginia Values Act into law.”

I hope this bill sails through to passage quickly and finally helps move Virginia into the 21st century.

Will Gays Be Virginia Republicans' 2019 Bogeyman?

For many years the three pillars of the Virginia Republican Party's get out the vote effort has been god - claiming to be the party of true Christians - guns - opposing any form of gun control - and gays - depicting gays as perverts who threaten families and children. With control of the Virginia General Assembly at stake in Virginia's November 2019 elections, early indications are that the Virginia GOP will likely double down on all three as the campaign season heats up.  On guns, the arrogant adjournment of the special session on gun control that Democrats will be depicted as seeking to confiscate guns.  On the issue of gays, recent attacks on Adam Ebbin, Virginia's sole gay state senator, suggests gays - and the likely enactment of LGBT non-discrimination protections by a Democrat controlled General Assembly - may once again be demonized to excite the bigoted GOP base in Virginia.  A piece in The Washingtonian looks at shots made against Ebbin. Here are article highligts:

Shortly before the Fourth of July, a rather remarkable set of quotes appeared in the Washington Post.

Virginia state Senator Adam Ebbin, a speaker intoned at a recent National Rifle Association event in Fredericksburg, is “the only openly gay senator in our Senate” and has an agenda that “means infanticide is coming, all the gun bills.” State Senator Bryce E. Reeves claimed Ebbin supported raising the minimum wage to as much as $25 and that he’d heard Ebbin say Democrats planned to “radically change Virginia” if they won control of the state this fall.

The nasty comments, which came just days before a scheduled special legislative session on gun control, were taken as a sign of how polarized the state had become. But they also thrust Ebbin into the headlines in a way he wasn’t expecting—although he’s long been a champion for LGBTQ rights in Virginia, he didn’t think his colleagues would invoke his identity to turn off voters. Why Ebbin? It doesn’t take a keen political strategist to come up with a theory: In a state increasingly torn between its growing urbanized population around Washington and a beleaguered rural conservative demographic, a gay liberal from the DC suburbs makes a great target. “I was really disappointed to be used as a bogeyman to divide Virginians just because of who I am,” Ebbin says. “My sexual orientation shouldn’t be relevant to gun safety.” 

November’s general election will determine whether Virginia Democrats will take back control of the House and Senate, where Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority. If that theory is correct, Ebbin’s name may ricochet around a lot more political events in the Virginia’s red areas before this state election cycle is done.

Ebbin was born in Long Island in 1963. His passion for politics began in grade school, where he would walk around his classrooms wearing a “Ford for President” button and worked for a moderate New York Republican running for Congress. While his party affiliation has shifted, his interest in legislation hasn’t waned.

In 1989, his college friends tipped him off about a reasonably priced condo in Alexandria, which was all of the convincing he needed to move to the area. In 1992, he co-founded the Virginia Partisans Gay/Lesbian Democratic Club and spent several years working on the campaigns of two gay elected officials, Arlington County Board’s Jay Fisette and Alexandria City Council’s Paul Smedberg. As a day job, he sold advertising space for Washington City Paper. 

Ebbin says that he felt isolated when he first arrived in Richmond. “In 2004, there was a lot of hostility to LGBT people with anti-gay legislation, whether it was anti-gay adoption, anti-gay straight alliance, anti-gay marriage,” he says. “But I’m proud to say that has changed drastically; we’re in a position where we’re promoting pro-LGBT legislation, and I’ve been really honored to carry legislation for non-discrimination in hiring and housing in Virginia.” 

After eight years in the House of Delegates, Ebbin ran for the Virginia Senate. His platform focused on defending LGBTQ Virginians, investing in public schools, and welcoming immigrants. He faced the first Republican who bothered to contest the district since 1999 and won with 64.7 percent of the vote. He’s run without a Republican opponent ever since and represents south Arlington, parts of Alexandria, and Mount Vernon—an increasingly diverse, growing area that’s an example of the sweeping demographic and political changes in the state.

Reeves sort of apologized to Ebbin: “I certainly meant no disrespect to him or anyone in the LGBTQ community,” he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Ebbin says the two have been in touch briefly since the comments surfaced. He’s saddened by the rift, but he says it makes fits the tone set by the current occupant of the White House. “As long as the current president is in office, Trump will divide people among Virginia just as he is across the country.” As an important election approaches, Ebbin says, “you never know what tactics Republicans will turn to next.”

LGBT Virginians best brace themselves for yet another round of attacks from Virginia Republicans. 

Bills Introduced in Virginia General Assembly to Repeal Gay Marriage Ban

State Senator Adam Ebbin

With two federal lawsuits underway in Virginia to strike down the vile Marshall-Newman Amendment to the Bill of Rights Section of the Virginia Constitution - that's right, anti-gay discrimination was written into the Bill of Rights - Virginia's ban on same sex marriage is likely facing a well deserved death.  But  at least two Virginia legislators also seek to begin the legislative death knell for religious based anti-gay bigotry.  They have thus introduced a bill to be taken up in the 2014 session of the Virginia General Assembly.  The prospect of the legislation passing the House of Delegates which is little more than an arm of the foul theocrats at The Family Foundation is likely slim to none.  The Washington Blade looks at this development.  Here are article highlights:

Two Virginia lawmakers on Monday introduced bills that seek to repeal a state constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage.

Gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and state Del. Joseph Morrissey (D-Henrico) introduced identical bills in their respective legislative chambers.

A referendum on whether to repeal the amendment would take place in November 2016 only if members of the General Assembly approve Ebbin and Morrissey’s bills during the 2014 and 2016 legislative sessions. A Virginia House of Delegate subcommittee in January killed a proposal that state Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) introduced seeking to repeal the commonwealth’s gay nuptials ban.  Surovell is expected to co-sponsor Morrissey’s measure.

“Change is coming across the country and eventually we’ll have marriage equality in Virginia,” Ebbin told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. “The road to marriage equality in Virginia might not be a short one, but we’ve got to make sure we’re on our way.”

Timothy Bostic and Tony London of Norfolk filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban a few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court found a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and issued a ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8. Carol Schall and Mary Townley of Richmond joined the case in September as attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, who successfully argued against California’s Proposition 8 before the U.S. Supreme Court, took up the case.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Virginia in August filed a class action federal lawsuit on behalf of two lesbian couples who are seeking marriage rights in the commonwealth.

A poll that Greenberg Quinlan Research and Target Point Consulting conducted on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign in late June found 55 percent of Virginians back marriage rights for same-sex couples.

The Christofascists and their political whores in the GOP are fighting a losing rear guard action against modernity and the expansion of equality.   Whether it is via court rulings or legislative action, gay equality is inevitable.

Yours truly with Plaintiffs Carol Schall and Mary Townley

Senators Adam Ebbin Donald McEachin Introduce LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Bill in Virginia Senate

As this blog has noted numerous times in the past, LGBT Virginians currently have no employment non-discrimination protections - even if they are state employees. That's right, zero protections.  And this sad state of affairs can be attributed directly to the Virginia GOP which has slavishly followed the demands of The Family Foundation ("TFF") that LGBT Virginians be kept as less than full citizens in all ways at all times.  As explained in a press release from Equality Virginia, two Virginia senators are trying to change this shameful state of affairs.  At least for state employees.  The rest of us will remain subject to being fired at will by anti-gay bigots unless and until ENDA is enacted by Congress, something unlikely to happen thanks to the GOP controlled House of Representatives.  But back to today's events.  Here are pertinent portions of EV's press release:

When: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, 9:30 a.m.

Where: House Briefing Room, General Assembly Building, 1000 Bank St., Richmond, VA 23219

Who: Join Senator Adam Ebbin (D-30) and Senator Donald McEachin (D-9) with co-patrons from both chambers of the General Assembly to announce support for Senate Bill 701. Equality Virginia and community leaders in support of protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state employees will also be available for comment.

More information:

Currently there are no workplace protections at the state or federal level for sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. Consistent polling shows that 90% of Virginians believe that LGBT people should have the right to work for the government without discrimination.

In Virginia, most top private employers already extend these protections leaving state government at a competitive disadvantage. Eighty percent of Virginia’s top 25 largest private employers have policies including at least sexual orientation which helps in recruiting and retaining top talent.

Bill Description:

“Nondiscrimination in state employment. Prohibits discrimination in state employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a special disabled veteran or other veteran covered by the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended. The bill defines “sexual orientation” as a person’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity or expression.”

Of course, the big question is whether or not The Family Foundation will sufficiently threaten and intimidate the political whores in the Virginia GOP to have the bill killed.  

Old Dominion University to Offer Designated Gay Student Housing

While Virginia in general remains a region plagued by gay-hating Neanderthals - especially amongst the Republican Party of Virginia - some of the state universities offer pockets of tolerance and acceptance both because it is the right thing to do and also because it helps with their recruiting efforts. Serving on the advisory board for the ODU Cultural Studies initiative, I have seen the strides being made at Old Dominion University. Now, ODU will offer designated housing on campus for gay and gay supportive students beginning in the fall. While the majority of students I have encountered are gay accepting, this new effort will help insure LGBT students have a supportive atmosphere. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot (it goes without saying that there are some nasty anti-gay comments on the article from local knuckle draggers who invariably want special rights for Christians - did I mention how much I hate Virginia in general?):

This fall, for the first time, Old Dominion University will offer dedicated on-campus housing for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and their supporters.

ODU will be the third Virginia university to offer such housing, joining George Mason University and the University of Richmond. Elsewhere in the Southeast, only Duke University, in Durham, N.C., offers it.

The dedicated housing, called Lavender House, is intended to be a place where gay and lesbian students can feel safer and more accepted, ODU said in an announcement Thursday.

Charles Lowman, ODU's assistant director for housing and residence life, said Lavender House will build on efforts to match gay and lesbian students with roommates who will be comfortable with them. "Having a dedicated residence space will make that matching easier, because Lavender House will be self-selecting," he said.

The dedicated living quarters will meet a need identified by gay and lesbian students in a survey last spring, ODU said. Other groups have appealed to the Office of Housing and Residence Life for dedicated housing spaces, and Army ROTC will have a reserved space this fall as well, the university said.

The Lavender House announcement comes at a time when gay rights and other social issues have assumed a high profile in the Virginia General Assembly. The news drew a range of reactions in Richmond. Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, the only openly gay member of the Assembly, was glad to hear it.

Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William County, one of the Assembly's most outspoken social conservatives, called the move a wrongheaded distraction from the university's academic mission.

So far, 18 students have signed up to live in Lavender House this fall. Students who are interested in applying for a room, or would like more information about Lavender House and the Safe Space Committee, can email safespace@odu.edu.

For those who may not recall, Del. Marshall has publicly stated that he'd be happy to drive all LGBT citizens from Virginia. The man is a monster and for those who say he's charming in person, similar statements were made about Hitler. Actions speak louder than pleasant conversation.

Adam Ebbin Pushes Gay Adoption Bill In Virginia General Assembly

UPDATED: Senator McEachin has introduced a counterpart bill to Ebbin's bill in the Virginia Senate.I'd love to seem them pass, but with the GOP majority in the House of Delegates and a tie in the Senate, I sadly am not optimistic.

Adam Ebbin, the lone openly gay member of the Virginia General Assembly, most at times feel like Don Quixote as he tries to bring rationality, not to mention, LGBT equality to the decidedly backwards thinking Neanderthal GOP ranks in the the General Assembly. Sadly, most of the GOP members prefer to mindlessly pandering to Bible beaters, thinly disguised white supremacists and neo-Nazi types. The Founding Fathers from Virginia must be rolling over in their graves over how low the General Assembly has sunk and the level of ignorance that passes for intelligence in GOP circles. Despite all of this, Ebbin has introduced a bill that would bar the Commonwealth from contracting with adoption and foster care agencies that discriminate based on sexual orientation and numerous other attributes. Not surprisingly, Republican have introduced bills to further legalize anti-gay (and other) discrimination in an already extremely anti-gay state. Here are highlights on the legislative jousting:

A battle over whether child-placement agencies should be allowed to discriminate against prospective parents and children based on their sexual orientation has moved to the General Assembly.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, has introduced legislation that would bar Virginia from contracting with or funding agencies that discriminate against children or otherwise eligible prospective foster or adoptive parents solely on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, family status, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Virginia Board of Social Services last month finalized regulations that strip out protections against discrimination based on personal factors, including gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and family status. They are to take effect May 1.

[T]he Virginia ACLU and other groups had opposed the change, saying that Virginia should keep the protections in place because state-licensed child-placement groups serve a governmental function — and thus cannot discriminate against prospective parents or children. Catholic groups and other organizations backed the removal, framing it as an issue of religious freedom.

Sen. Jeffrey McWaters and Del. Todd Gilbert have introduced so-called "conscience clause" bills that would reinforce the Department of Social Services regulations and protect private, faith-based child-placement agencies. . . . . Gilbert, R-Woodstock, who said he introduced the legislation on behalf of the Virginia Family Foundation, a conservative Christian group, to protect faith-based agencies.

[A]dvocates also have expressed concern that a large number of young people in the foster care system are gay or lesbian, and unless the state adopts a law that bars discrimination they could be denied services based on their sexual orientation, compounding the difficulties they already face in finding permanent homes. "Every child deserves a loving home, and children who have been denied a loving home based on who they are deserve a chance to grow up as much as any other child," Ebbin said.

Ebbin acknowledges the tough road ahead for his legislation, but he says it's essential to work for "an enlightened policy" that provides for the placement of children in permanent homes, based on what's best for the child. "I don't understand people who would believe it is better for a child to cry him or herself to sleep in an orphanage rather than having a loving home, whatever the orientation of the parents," he said.

Frankly, until the foul stench known as The Family Foundation is eradicated from Virginia, don't expect Virginia to move into the 21st Century. Hate, bigotry, lots of sanctimonious false piety, and the open embrace of ignorance are the hallmarks The Family Foundation. The Southern Poverty Law Center ought to add the organization to its list of registered hate groups.

Openly Gay Candidate Wins Virginia Senate Primary

Since 2004 House of Delegates member Adam Ebbin has been the sole openly gay member of the Virginia General Assembly which, as readers might correctly surmise, is anything but a progressive and equality minded elected body. Indeed, I suspect most of the Republican members of the General Assembly would be all too happy roll the legal scene back to around 1811 rather than 2011. Ebbin decided that as a member of the Virginia Senate he could do more for promoting progressive issues. The Washington Blade looks at Ebbin's primary victory. Here are some highlights:

Expected to be the biggest hurdle on the way to the Virginia Senate, gay member of the House of Delegates, Adam Ebbin, defeated both of his primary opponents in Tuesday’s primary in the heavily Democratic 30th district.

Ebbin will now face off in November against Republican nominee Tim McGhee, a web-designer and small business owner. Ebbin is ready to transition into the general election mode.

“There will be many more people to reach, people of different political parties and independents. It will still be an undertaking to meet as many people from the different communities in the district that I should meet.”

Ebbin has represented the 49th District in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2004, and has been a progressive voice in state politics during his time in office. Ebbin has received numerous endorsements recently including from Equality Virginia, Virginia Partisans Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Associations.

Ebbin is also quite ready to take his energy and passion to the Senate. “I think I’ll be able to get more done if we can hold the majority,” Ebbin said of his future senate career. “I think I will have more bills pass. And I will continue working on a number of things that I believe in, including nondiscrimination, the environment and other issues such as prenatal care, and protections for seniors and those who need assistance.”

Ebbin’s top legislative priorities in the Senate will make his progressive constituents very happy, saying, “renewable energy, transit, and non-discrimination in state hiring would be among the first.”

It goes without saying that the Republican Party of Virginia opposes just about everything that Ebbin supports.

Del. Bob Marshall Again Proves He's a Hate Filled Bigot

Just as Victoria Cobb and her fellow haters at The Family Foundation never miss an opportunity to denigrate LGBT citizens and push for a Christian Taliban theocracy, neither does Del. Bob Marshall (pictured at left) - one of the authors of Virginia's heinous anti-gay Marshall-Newman Amendment. Marshall has admitted to wanting to drive gays from Virginia and continually displays a mindset that suggests he'd support so-called ethnic cleansing of gays and other populations he doesn't like if he thought he cold get away with it. Like Cobb, his message is consistently one of hate and intolerance and one can only pray he's delusional enough to try to run for the U.S. Senate and get a thorough ass kicking. The Virginian Pilot has details on Marshall's latest anti-gay screed which was triggered by the Richmond Federal Reserve's decision to fly a rainbow flag during Pride Month. Here are some highlights:

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A flap has developed over a flag flying outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in recognition of Gay Pride Month. The prominent perch for the rainbow pennant has drawn the ire of Del. Bob Marshall and the Family Foundation, who have opposed the expansion of gay rights in Virginia.
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Marshall, a Prince William County Republican, wants the flag removed, reasoning "the front of a federal building is not a commercial or political message board."

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In a letter to bank president Jeff Lacker, Marshall demanded that the flag be taken down, claiming that homosexual behavior is bad for the economy, "shortens lives, adds significantly to illness, increases health costs" and "promotes venereal diseases."
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Fortunately, others in the Virginia General Assembly recognize that LGBT Virginians are citizens too. Delegates Adam Ebbin and David Englin from Northern Virginia have responded to Marshall's bigoted demands. As the Lakeridge-Occoquan news reports, Del. Ebbin took on Marshall's bigotry:

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Ebbin said in a statement: “Sadly, it’s no shock to learn that Bob Marshall has once again attacked the dignity of Virginia’s LGBT population. That he would attack the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond for flying a flag that promotes equality, tolerance and acceptance tells us all we need to know about Delegate Marshall’s priorities. Across the Commonwealth, LGBT Virginians, their friends and their families are celebrating this week as the start of a month where we express pride in who we are and what we have accomplished as a community."

Did a Virginia B&B Reject a Gay Couple?

It sounds like a B&B in Fairfax County is trying to fast talk and fast dance itself out of a PR nightmare now claiming that the refusal to take the reservation of a gay couple was some sort of mistake made during "policy transition." In an update to a Washington Blade story, Donna Stafford, an owner of Stafford House, told the Washington Blade that the bed and breakfast has changed its policy and will no longer bar anyone from making a reservation. She also pointed out that under Virginia's Neanderthal laws, by rejecting the gay couple's request for a reservation, Stafford House had been within the letter of all relevant state and local housing laws. In Virginia, gays are the new blacks and can still legally be turned away from housing, hotel accommodations and fired at will because of the religious prejudice of bigoted employers. I hope people - both gay and straight - see through the ruse of the Stafford House is attempting and mark it as an establishment to be avoided like the plague. Here are highlights from the original Blade story:
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A legally married gay man claims that a Virginia bed and breakfast denied him and his spouse a reservation for a room because they are of the same gender.
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Russell Williams, 56, of Hanover, Pa., said his spouse, David Schaefer, 54, tried to make reservations in late February at Stafford House in Fairfax, Va., as part of a trip for the wedding of their nephew. However, they say they were denied a room over the phone on the basis of their relationship.
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Virginia has no LGBT-specific non-discrimination law, nor one that protects same-sex couples against discrimination in public accommodations. Williams said facing this discrimination reminded him of the mistreatment that racial minorities in the United States once faced in similar situations. “The first thing that popped into my head was now I knew how black people felt 50 years ago,” Williams said. “It was bizarre. David felt the same way.”
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Virginia State Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), the only openly gay member of the General Assembly and a candidate for a Virginia State Senate seat, called the alleged discrimination faced by Williams and Schaefer “an embarrassment to Virginia.”
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Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, also expressed frustration that no legal protections exist to protect LGBT people from discrimination in public accommodations.
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“These kinds of things should not be happening in this day and age, and the frustrating part is that they happen all too frequently in areas all across our country,” Sainz said. “It’s even more frustrating when they happen right across from the nation’s capital — in a city that is virtually within walking distance of the nation’s capital.”
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Virginia has much natural beauty and amazing historical points of interests for travelers. Sadly, it remains a state best avoided by LGBT tourists because there is no guarantee that one won't be treated like a dog - or worse - and it's all perfectly legal. As I have argued many times, the LGBT community needs to punish anti-gay states and take their travel dollar elsewhere. When the boyfriend and I vacation, it is NOT in Virginia.

Two Virginia Lawmakers Introduce Anti-Bullying Bills

As I have noted before, Virginia's current anti-bullying laws are nothing less than a joke and school personnel who fail to address bullying are pretty much given blanket immunity while the bullies face virtually no consequences - even when the bullying leads to a student's suicide as happened last May at Grafton High School in nearby York County in the case of Christian Taylor (pictured at right). In Taylor's case, his principal bully continues to strut around the school and likely bullies others still with zero consequences. Now, two members of the Virginia General Assembly - one gay and one straight have introduced bills that would address this shameful deficiency in Virginia's laws. These bills deserve passage yet I am sure will be strongly opposed by the Christo-fascists at The Family Foundation who want no conceivable constraints on their ability to denigrate and make life a living Hell for LGBT students and others who do not subscribe to their vile and perverted version of Christianity. One can only hope that all too spineless members of the General Assembly with for once stand up to Victoria Cobb and her fellow hate merchants. Here are highlights from the Washington Blade's coverage:
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Two members of the Virginia House of Delegates — one gay, one a straight ally — have introduced two anti-bullying bills that, if successful, will be major accomplishments in the coming legislative session considering how difficult activists and elected officials there have found getting pro-LGBT legislation passed.
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Del. Adam Ebbin, who represents Virginia’s 49th House District, which includes parts of Arlington County, Alexandria and Fairfax County, has introduced legislation that would make bullying a class one misdemeanor, give victims the right to sue bullies who are sanctioned or found guilty, provide for expulsions for bullies and require that any bullying that causes injury be reported to the state’s attorney. Ebbin is the only openly gay member of the House of Delegates.
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Del. David Englin, who represents the state’s 45th House District which includes parts of Arlington and Fairfax counties and Alexandria, has introduced the “Anti-Bullying Responsibility Act,” which would add specificity to the codes of student conduct already required of state school districts, require schools to have procedures in place to separate victims from bullies, make bullying intervention a requirement for teachers, require incidents to be reported to superintendents and hold administrators responsible for their local policies.
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Ebbin’s bill, for instance, adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the definition of bullying even though some districts, such as his, already have that specified. He said having those areas identified is important because in some parts of the state, educators don’t take anti-gay bullying seriously.
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Ebbin said he was inspired to introduce the legislation in part because of the late Christian Taylor, a 16-year-old freshman at Grafton High School in Yorktown, Va., who committed suicide last May after enduring months of bullying. He hung himself in his bedroom. His mother told reporters they had reported the bullying to school administrators and police but nothing was done. Police said they looked into the situation but turned it over to the school when they determined no crime had been committed. Ebbin said one bully told Taylor, “you need to just go commit suicide and get it over with.”

Virginia GOP Promotes Hate

My advice to LGBT citizens or progressive businesses thinking of moving to Virginia: Don't!! Virginia's General Assembly, in large measure due to the religious fanatic controlled Republican Party of Virginia cares nothing about equality for all under the law and continues to vote as if Virginia was a theocracy, continues to treat gays and others as second class citizens. The extreme religious views of the increasingly delusional GOP base trump all else, including what is best for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The latest proof of this is what has happened to Del. Adam Ebbin's bill to extend employment non-discrimination to LGBT Virginians employed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Here from Assembly Access:

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House Republicans in a General Laws subcommittee last night killed Del. Adam Ebbin’s HB2385, which would prohibit discrimination in public employment based on sexual orientation. A majority of the House Democratic Caucus co-patroned the bill, while GOP Del. Todd Gilbert argued that the measure “may not be in the best interest of our society.”

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Like the GOP has given so much to society of late: a war sold to the public based on lies, a regime that approved war crimes activities, and the worst economy since the Great Depression just for starters. I continue to believe that Christian fundamentalists, Mormons, and far right Catholics pose a clear and present danger to the rule of law in this nation and they continue to undermine freedom of religion for other citizens who don't happen to be Kool-Aid drinkers. The Richmond blog Left of the Hill sums up my views as follows:

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By killing this nondiscrimination measure, however, the House Republicans have provided Virginia's voters with a prime example of why we need to elect a Democratic majority in the House of Delegates. It is never alright for an elected official to place hatred before the rights of all Virginians. By depriving people protection against discrimination at a time when our country so desperately needs the leaders to stand up for the working class, the Republicans have shown that they are willing to promote that message of hatred instead of standing up for what's right. When voters head to the polls in November, this will simply be one of many reminders of the harm the Republican majority has done to our Commonwealth.

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The action also underscores why it is critical that Bob McDonnell NOT be elected as governor in November since he is one of these Kool-Aid drinkers who despises freedom of religion for all.

New Push in Virginia for Employment Non-Discrimination (for State Employees Only)

Northern Virginia Delegate, Adam Ebbin, has introduced HR 1493 in the Virginia House of Delegates. The text of the amendatory language reads as follows:

Employment discrimination prohibited.
No state agency, institution, board, bureau, commission, council, or instrumentality of the Commonwealth shall discriminate in employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a special disabled veteran or other veteran covered by the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act of 1974, as amended.

"Sexual orientation" means a person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity or expression. This definition does not protect any person whose attraction is towards persons with whom sexual conduct would be illegal due to the age of the parties.

A similar bill failed to pass last year and I will not hold my breath waiting for passage this year. No doubt Victoria Cobb from Daddy Dobson's affiliate, The Family Foundation, will be shrieking and frothing at the mouth about the horrors of men in dresses and high heels running unchecked throughout Virginia's state government offices. Meanwhile, even if the bill passes into law, the rest of us non-state employees in Virginia are left to the often vicious and anti-gay whims of employers. Job performance, competence, and reliability all mean nothing if your employer turns out to be an anti-gay bigot. Such is life in the wonderful Commonwealth of Virginia.

My message to progressive employers - tell state officials and legislators that Virginia's anti-gay environment is barring them from relocating to or expanding operations in Virginia. While they love to kiss the ass of bigots like Ms. Cobb, the Virginia legislators love money even more.