7 months ago
From: Pam's House Blend - Front Page
Title: VA: Video of Delegate David Englin urging House of Delegates to stand up to anti-gay AG
Let's keep pounding on Virginia today...here's a bright spot. David Englin is in his third term representing the 45th District in the House of Delegates and he has been a steadfast supporter of LGBT rights in a legislature way too full of right-wing bullies (see my interview with him here). When the marriage amendmenet was before the Virginia Assembly a few years ago, he stood up and delivered a passionate addresson equality. It's worth the click. Today as Gov. McDonnell and Attorney General Cuccinelli have made it clear that re-instituting discrimination against LGBTs on campuses is how things in the Commonwealth on their watch, David Englin took the floor again.In response to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's letter to Virginia's public colleges and universities asking them to remove language dealing with sexual orientation from their nondiscrimination policies, David urged the General Assembly and Governor McDonnell to stand up to Cuccinelli's anti-gay crusade. In his remarks, he noted that there are still options available, including bringing Senate Bill 66 up for debate and a vote: WaPo: Del. David Englin (D-Alexandria) also rose to address the House, recalling his parents and grandparents' stories of anti-Semitic discrimination by employers. Englin said the state must act to protect Virginia's reputation as a desirable place to do business because some companies might see the state as intolerant. "Let there be no mistake - Ken Cuccinelli wants to hang a sign in front of the public colleges and universities of this Commonwealth that reads 'Gays need not apply,'" Englin said.BTW, consideration was ultimately blocked by GOP lawmakers. And a WaPo editorial today makes it all crystal clear.These schools have been havens for inclusive policies that often go hand-in-hand with academic freedom. It's sad and telling that as one of his earliest acts in office, the attorney general would actively reach out to enable discrimination. His opinion would, in the words of a former governor and current senator, Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), "hurt the ability of our colleges and universities to attract the very best faculty, staff and students and [would] damage the Commonwealth's reputation for academic excellence and diversity." Mr. Cuccinelli is certainly right about one thing: The Virginia legislature has failed -- disgracefully, in our view -- to guarantee protections to gay and lesbian residents of the state. If legislators did their jobs, the attorney general's well-known views on the evils of homosexuality would become quaint artifacts instead of the arbiter of policy for what has been, until now, a first-class system of higher education.
Visit This Site