The backwardness and homophobia of the knuckle dragging GOP members of the House of Delegates knows no limits. Yesterday a committee once again killed a bill that was passed by the Virginia Senate that would have protected state workers from employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation. Leading the charge was uber-bigot Delegate Bob Marshall pictured at left. The man is truly a Neanderthal who wants all citizens to be forced to live according to his personal religious beliefs. He'd fit right in with the mullahs in Iran. Unless things change markedly in Virginia, I suspect that once our parents are gone, the boyfriend and I will consider leaving the state. First, these highlights from WJZ-TV 13:*
A Republican-ruled House subcommittee has killed legislation that would have banned job discrimination against gay state employees. The bill died on an unrecorded show-of-hands vote Tuesday evening. Democratic Sen. Donald McEachin sponsored the bill after new Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell's executive order against job discrimination omitted protections for people based on sexual orientation.
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Orders by two previous Democratic governors, Tim Kaine and his predecessor Mark Warner, had shielded gays from bias in the state workforce. McDonnell objected to including sexual preference as a criteria in his executive order saying it was a legislative priority.
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It is noteworthy that the cowards in the GOP utilize an unrecorded vote to keep the bill from going to the House floor where they would have to go on record as either opposing or supporting equality under the law. I am beginning to believe that a formal LGBT tourism boycott of Virginia is in order since the legislature wants tourism to same the state's financial ass. Meanwhile, Blue Virginia has some great commentary on Bob Marshall's bigotry:
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Will it never end? Apparently not, unfortunately. That's right, the crazy clown who says that "sometimes incest is voluntary" and that disabled children are God's "special punishment" to women who have aborted their first pregnancy, is out with yet another gem. Opponents of [Sen. Donald] McEachin's bill ["that would add discrimination based on sexual orientation to a list of banned biases in state employment"] say it's unnecessary.
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"I think there first should be some finding that homosexuals, as a class, are being discriminated against," said Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, an ardent social conservative. "In all of my experience and reading, gay individuals seem to have more income, to attend more cultural events, to take more vacations than the rest of us. Show me where this discrimination is going on."
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Think about that for a minute. Yep, you got it, Matthew Shepard wasn't a victim of anti-gay hatred because "gay individuals...attend more cultural events. And, of course, the fact that 39% of GLBT respondents to a 2005 survey "reported experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment in the workplace during the past five years because of their sexual orientation" is irrelevant because gays "take more vacations than the rest of us."
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It is truly embarrassing at times to be from Virginia - not to mention dangerous from an employment perspective if one is gay.
Will it never end? Apparently not, unfortunately. That's right, the crazy clown who says that "sometimes incest is voluntary" and that disabled children are God's "special punishment" to women who have aborted their first pregnancy, is out with yet another gem. Opponents of [Sen. Donald] McEachin's bill ["that would add discrimination based on sexual orientation to a list of banned biases in state employment"] say it's unnecessary.
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"I think there first should be some finding that homosexuals, as a class, are being discriminated against," said Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, an ardent social conservative. "In all of my experience and reading, gay individuals seem to have more income, to attend more cultural events, to take more vacations than the rest of us. Show me where this discrimination is going on."
*
Think about that for a minute. Yep, you got it, Matthew Shepard wasn't a victim of anti-gay hatred because "gay individuals...attend more cultural events. And, of course, the fact that 39% of GLBT respondents to a 2005 survey "reported experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment in the workplace during the past five years because of their sexual orientation" is irrelevant because gays "take more vacations than the rest of us."
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It is truly embarrassing at times to be from Virginia - not to mention dangerous from an employment perspective if one is gay.
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