A subcommittee of the Virginia House of
Delegates has rejected a proposed LGBT protections bill.
The measure, which cleared the Virginia
Senate with the help of 4 Republicans, sought to protect lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender state employees in Virginia.
Republican Delegate C. Todd Gilbert
moved to kill the measure, arguing that no such discrimination
exists.
“I've heard this bill several years
in a row,” Gilbert said. “Among all the people who spoke, there
was not a single example of one that was discriminated against in
public employment. I challenge those in the room to bring forth an
example.”
“I was told the following year that
there would be a line out the door of people with examples of having
been discriminated against in public employment. There was not a
single example anyone that felt that except that abstract fear that
we've heard testified here today. I heard the gentlewoman today say
that Virginia Commonwealth – VCU is this oppressive and intolerant
environment. I dare say that's probably not true. The examples
we've heard from today have actually reaffirmed that people are
interested in coming to Virginia and engaging in careers here and are
thriving in the process of engaging in those careers. I think the
many people that testify in their roles in higher education
demonstrate that there is no problem this bill solves and once again,
we've heard from many people about this specter of oppression that
really doesn't exist because we don't have a single example of anyone
who has been discriminated against for this reason.”
Blue Virginia, however, points to the
high-profile case of openly gay Judge Tracy Thorne-Begland.
(Related: Tracy
Thorne-Begland confirmed to Virginia court.)
Thorne-Begland was “rejected simply
because of his sexual orientation (note that Del. Gilbert refused to
vote for Thorne-Begland's nomination last year),” the
progressive site wrote. “And although judicial nominees would
not have been affected by this bill, Thorne-Begland's example
demonstrates in a glaring way that discrimination is alive and well
in Virginia, and in public employment.”
And
ThinkProgress.org's Josh Israel notes some hypocrisy in Gilbert's
remarks.
“Gilbert is the chief sponsor of a
bill that passed in the House and Senate this year that purportedly
would ban discrimination against religious and political groups at
Virginia's public colleges and universities who choose to restrict
membership based on their beliefs. The bill essentially gives clubs
license to discriminate against LGBT and other students. But when
Gilbert presented the bill as a protection against discrimination, he
too failed to show any examples of discrimination against college
groups in Virginia,” Israel wrote.