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Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly reports that the decision of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) to advise the Commonwealth’s universities to rescind anti-discrimination protections (see letter at right) is already meeting with stiff resistance. Some of the reactions:
* Dr. Karen DePauw, the vice president and dean for graduate education at Virginia Tech:
‘We will continue to have an open and inclusive environment for the grad school, I am confident of that. I cannot speak for the whole university because I have not seen the letter and we haven’t had a chance to talk about it. As vice president and dean for graduate education, I anticipate and am hopeful that we will have a thorough discussion before we take any final action.””We send the wrong message about our commitment to diversity and inclusion by removing sexual orientation. There are a number of faculty, staff and students at Virginia Tech who are LGBT or allies, and by removing that it says we are not as welcoming and inclusive to all.”
* Jon Blair, the chief executive officer of Equality Virginia:
“I think that the universities have a responsibility to review this letter thoroughly and ask questions of the Attorney General.””Attorney General Cuccinelli clearly doesn’t understand that his radical actions are putting Virginia at risk of losing both top students and faculty, and discouraging prospective ones from coming here.”
”It is time that Governor McDonnell come out from hiding and reign in Mr. Cuccinelli before his embarrassing and regressive actions permanently damage the reputation, educational system and competitiveness of our great Commonwealth.”
The blog of Queer & Allied Activism at the University of Virginia is worth a click to read its open letter to AG Cuccinelli and Gov. McDonnell. A snippet:
It is unbelievable that our “jobs governor” and his attorney general want state employees to be able to fired, or never hired to begin with because of who they are. This move sets the tone for the state and university and sends the message that LGBTQ individuals are not welcome in Virginia and is a clear flip flop on his campaign promise not to promote a social agenda. As students, we need to be worrying about our class work, not contemplating how our daily lives are going to change or whether our jobs, or even our lives are safe because of the negative attitude our government is taking.In a time when steps should be taken to bar discrimination in all forms, embrace diversity, and provide equal benefits for all people, we feel like the leadership in Virginia has taken a huge step backwards with these actions. And these actions are being watched closely by those in Virginia and beyond. Such blatant targeting of a minority group has no place in Virginia, or anywhere for that matter. Virginia is already an unfriendly place for LGBTQ individuals, with McDonnell’s removal of sexual orientation protections with his executive order (reversing the order made by former governors Kaine and Warner) to the controversial Marshall-Newman Amendment, which defines marriage in the state of Virginia as being between a man and a woman. This act by Attorney General Cuccinelli makes Virginia an even more hostile place to live and work.
Yes, yes it does. What does it say to all of the employees who came out of the closet during the tenures of Govs. Kaine and Warner, knowing it was safe to do so on the job, free of fear of a superior targeting them because of their sexual orientation?
You cannot unring the bell. The closet door cannot be fixed once it’s kicked off of hinges. Virginia’s AG has just told the homophobes to get out the torches and pitchforks.
These employees on state campuses are now sitting ducks for any bigoted jack*ss that wants to have free rein to place them on the guillotine with AG Cuccinelli and Gov. McDonnell ready to pull the release, smiling as the blade comes down, making the Commonwealth safe for heterosexuals again.
Who else is to blame when the guillotine falls?
* The independent and progressive voters who chose to stay home when it was clear McDonnell was ahead.
* The independents lured by McDonnell’s “jobs” messaging, when it was clear he had a grade A wingnut social conservative background.
* BET co-founder, billionaire Sheila Johnson, who endorsed McDonnell, opened her wallet and continued the jobs messaging on his behalf:
We need bold and innovative leadership to move our state forward and that’s why I’ve chosen to support Bob McDonnell for Governor. He has shown me that he has the right vision and the executive leadership skills that will guide Virginia through these challenging times.
Would Sheila Johnson care to say anything about this latest “jobs messaging” coming from the McDonnell administration, that will cost the jobs of LGBT employees?
Virginia is for lovers. I predict these “lovers” in government will be seen in court soon.
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who else is to blame when the guillotine falls?Besides Cuccinelli and Gov. McDonnell…
* The independent and progressive voters who chose to stay home when it was clear McDonnell was ahead.
* The independents lured by McDonnell’s “jobs” messaging, when it was clear he had a grade A wingnut social conservative background.
* BET co-founder, billionaire Sheila Johnson, who endorsed McDonnell, opened her wallet and continued the jobs messaging on his behalf:
Would Sheila Johnson care to say anything about this latest “jobs messaging” coming from the McDonnell administration, that will cost the jobs of LGBT employees?
Sorry to have to add this…
….. and hoods and teabag hats and even sorrier to say militia weapons.
Tehyz may evn teech bandjoe playin! Les see naw, they be havin teh E are’s.
Uh, uh, uh…. reedin, ridin and teh rumatiz cauz you done did no youz aint gonna git to no hy flautin koledge till youz in yer DDDD’s ore 5D’s.
Seriously, its bad enough that I am southern. Saying I’m southern suprises people. I don’t act southern for a reason. If you are around anyone that is not southern they immediatly assume your a racist bigot with an IQ half your shoe size. That tends to adversely impact pay checks.
So, thanks a lot Virginia. You just lowered every southerner’s who’s looking for a new job’s next pay check another 5%.
sigh
Disgusting, Virginia is indeed for homophobes They are welcome to come down to North Carolina.
Fittingly as a counterexample, The UNC Board of Governors for the statewide system recently voted for a fully inclusive non-discrimination clause for state universities.
Granted, Dem Gov Bev Perdue is not an outfront ally but she has been supportive in the typical moderate Democratic NC tradition. And signed a statewide gay inclusive anti-bullying bill into law.
In comparison to the blatantly anti-gay leadership one state up from us we are in a good shape.
Although NC Republicans are going to have a good year in Raleigh. And if we lose the statehouse I have no doubt the same attacks will begin on LGBT Tarheels.
RecallI really think the people of Virginia should consider starting a recall petition against the Attorney General. Start the signature process on the campuses. If nothing else it will make the Governor and Attorney General think before they strip the rights and protections from Gays and Lesbians.
Note that the conservatives have already started a recall petition against the Attorney General of Maryland for allowing recognition of out of state same sex marriages.
Let’s be honestBob McDonnell IS in favor of jobs…As long as those jobs are for heterosexuals. The obvious message for GLBT people there is: Y’all ain’t welcome in dese here parts.
If the media attention doesn’t embarrass Cuccinelli/McDonnell into withdrawing this, I think it’s high time for us to do everything in our power to undermine the economic health and vitality of that state. Turn a degree from VT or VCU into the equivalent of a degree from Bob Jones University. Don’t visit the state. If you’re there already, leave. Discourage others from visiting or working there. In other words, make Virginia into the new Kansas — punish the state for its bigotry to the fullest extent possible.
yepPerhaps someone should inform Cuccinelli that, just for a single starting example, the computers with which he presumably works on a daily basis owe a huge debt to Alan Turing (a gay university professor forcibly outed in 1952). By chasing queer people of all stripes away from the state’s educational institutions, Cuccinelli might be cheating his state out of the honor of educating the next big pioneer…
Unringing the bellI experienced this personally. When I first relocated to my current area, I was out of the closet. I was out in my job interview, I was out on the job. I had no problems at all. Then my boss got a promotion, the new boss didn’t want a queer working for him, and I was out the door.
Since then, my state and county have passed laws that would have prevented it. At the time, I had no recourse whatsoever.
Sure…Because it was Teh Gays that caused the massacre at Virginia Tech. So they shouldn’t be allowed.
I mean really. The absurdity of this. Creating a phantom menace when they have other issues that are more important. Like gun control.
I would like to have about 30 min with this AG and give him a good ‘ole Southern arse whoppin’
But as he’s probably too afraid to get a whoppin’ from a gay guy, I think I’ll write to my alma mater (an ACC school) and demand that they let any Virginia or Virginia Tech student or faculty who wishes to transfer (gay or not) because of this immediate fast track. Lest I pull my contributions.
Virginia already qualifies as the worst state in the United StatesLet’s face it – the state that fought hard for its anti-miscegenation laws in 1967 is still so disgusting, it’s not funny.
It was at a Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge in 1961 that my parents, my younger brother and I, were denied accommodation, on the three-day drive back to New York from Miami. Being of Sicilian descent, we had a bit too much “tan” for the desk clerk, who was following the racist segregation policy of the time. That experience is one of the reasons I testify in favor of the use of the language “actual or perceived” in anti-discrimination laws.
It’s not like there aren’t nice things in Virginia – Colonial Williamsburg is a wonderful historical experience – and a visit there makes one wonder how Virginia and Massachusetts have done an historical flip-flop when it comes to the difference between colonial attitudes and modern ones. If Virginia had been the way it is now during colonial times, the Salem Witch trials might have been in Virginia.
Virginia is for people passing through on the I-95 corridor with the doors locked and the wondows rolled up.
Doses of reality
Executive orders and other internal policies are an illusion.
Obviously, the Cuccinelli decision illustrates that they can be erased – but the reality is that, even when in place, they are only as good as the next person up in the food chain wants them to be. Translation: unless the state in question allows them to be enforced in court (and few, if any, do), then they’re worthless.
I guess what’s shocking is that anyone is shocked by what these neo-soft-n-fuzzy-cons are doing.
Brain drain? How many of you think they care? These clowns represent the generation of CONservatives to whom lobotomy-esque stupidity is a badge of honor.
Plus…
Those in the CONservative elite who actually do value a functioning brain but who nevertheless hate anything other than Eisenhower-era sexuality still don’t care about queer brainpower.
Remember – these are the same people who are willing to spend every last penny in the nation’s treasury on a ‘war on terror’ but are willing to lose said war to prevent any non-hetero from fighting for America in it.
They’re in charge.
They have their careers and lives and ‘equality.’
Every minute that they keep us from ours is a victory for them.
We need change. All they need is the status quo.
make it backfireI don’t see why the LGBT community in Virginia doesn’t have this plan backfire on the new Governor… They’ve removed protections for all sexual orientations, heterosexuality included.
If the LGBT community were to fire people for being heterosexual, it would backfire in the Governors face and he would seem like a fool for having opened these poor heterosexuals up to their firing.
Whoa…Was there ever any doubt about McDonnell? He kept trying to disown a college paper he wrote as a “thought piece,” but it’s clear he really believes it. During the campaign, the focus was what he said about women’s role in the workplace, and he managed to distance himself (from himself) with some success. Deeds, the Democrat, was actually more progressive (certainly for our community), but may have been discounted, in part, because he may have sounded too rural to Northern Virginia. Also, he may not have focused enough on reasons to vote FOR him, rather than against McDonnell. I applaud what higher education officials are doing to stand up to this.
Will definitely hurt recruitingMany of the most prestigious academic journals and professional societies have policies against running job postings for employers who don’t provide comprehensive anti-discrimination protections for employees.