Virginia’s new Republican leadership apparently longs for the days of yore, when gays knew their place—the closet. But this month, they’re longing for the days when their discriminatory proclivities were not so well known. Just days after he delivered the Republican response to the President’s State of the Union, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on everything but sexual orientation, a departure from his two Democratic predecessors. Then his attorney general sent a letter to the state’s public universities advising that “the law and public policy” of Virginia “prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ or like classification, as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy….” The moves garnered an enormous amount of publicity nationwide and protests locally and McDonnell suddenly issued another piece of paper—this time to all state employees. The Human Rights Campaign issued a press statement saying that, while the directive is a “positive step,” state employees “remain vulnerable without an inclusive executive order or law passed by the legislature.”
A Closer Look
DADT repeal teeters on the mid-term electionsGoogle “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and you’ll get more than 2 million links. Add the word “repeal” to the search, and you’ll get about half a million. Add the words “this year,” and you’re down to 135,000.
That’s probably a good illustration of how the actual repeal process is going these days: Lots of people are talking about it, but the chances for success this year rely on a lot more things converging just so, and not too much.
Breaking News
High court to examine limits on Phelps protestsThe U.S. Supreme Court continues its unpredictable foray into LGBT-related legal conflicts—this week announcing that it will decide whether a protester has a First Amendment right to use a private funeral service as a staging ground for their hate speech against gays
Marriage inequality extracts a price on mental healthSame-sex marriage bans may be harmful to the mental health of gay people in those states. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Rep. Frank: ENDA will get House vote this monthLegislation can be like a train: It runs on a track, makes certain stops along the way, and is often attached to other trains. But, in Congress, the train doesn’t run on time.
Last October, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would likely get a House committee vote in September and a floor vote that fall. Didn’t happen.
DC marriage law in effect but trouble could lie aheadA new law takes effect today in the nation’s capital, granting equal rights in marriage licensing for gay couples. Washington, D.C.’s marriage equality legislation becomes law in spite of a Herculean effort by opponents to block its implementation.
Chief Justice refuses appeal to stop D.C. marriage lawU.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday evening denied a request to stop Washington, D.C.’s new marriage equality law from going into effect Wednesday, March 3.