Virginia’s attorney general says public colleges and universities in the state with policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should revoke such policies because they lack the legal authority to name gay state employees as a protected class, The Washington Post reported. The attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli II, a Republican who took office in January, wrote in a letter to the colleges that only the state’s General Assembly can give legal protections to gay state employees. The legislature has repeatedly declined to take that step.
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43 Responses to Attorney General Tells Virginia Colleges to Drop Gay-Rights Protections
standards - March 5, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Thank GOD we can all finally start discriminating against gay state employees in Virginia again. I mean who wants to work with a gay person? They should all be fired and they can’t do anything about it. Next, the elderly and people with disabilities.Of course I’m being sarcastic here. As an out gay man and leader in DC’s gay community and in higher education, I’m horrified about what’s going on next door in Virginia. Virginia is for lovers??? please…it’s the new ‘hate state.’
chronicledm - March 5, 2010 at 3:47 pm
I’m with you all the way, standards.
keskew257 - March 5, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Unbelieveable. This is the most important issue the VA attorney general needs to address? I would hope the university system would be ahead of this state’s legislature. It is obviously out of step with the rest of the country. Guess I won’t be vacationing or conferencing in VA in the near future.
matt1977a - March 5, 2010 at 3:56 pm
As an alumni and faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University, I am outraged. I was afraid this was the direction when the state policy was reversed last month.One of the reasons I chose to enroll at VCU was their progressive policy that protects students and faculty.Dr. Roa and the Board of Visitors MUST stand up against discrimination of our students and faculty….Waiting for the rally time and location…
wvprof - March 5, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Me, too. This is beyond appalling.
lslerner - March 5, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Virginia is for lovers!
athibo - March 5, 2010 at 4:02 pm
I hope the Texas Attorney General does not see this. I am sure he would be supported by the big hair governor.
mabeelrc - March 5, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Thank you Ken Cuccinelli II. And I’m not being sarcastic.
11299051 - March 5, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Wow, a faculty member at that august institution who counts as more than one alumnus, now that’s impressive.
jffoster - March 5, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Good for the A-G of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
landrumkelly - March 5, 2010 at 4:12 pm
What’s he running for now?
flamglam - March 5, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Here’s the difference between a liberal and a conservative in this country.A liberal – allows others to disagree with their views.A conservative – declares anyone who disagrees with their views to be subhuman and not worthy of the most basic human dignity.Those of you who want the gays, liberals and everyone else to disappear, wait until enough of us finally wash our hands of this pathetic imitation of a democracy and flee to countries who actually consider us to be human beings. You’ll see where you are then, with Sarah Palin as your figurehead and your “country” a sweatshop for your new Asian overlords.
jsherman - March 5, 2010 at 4:20 pm
#8 and #10 — I am honestly curious why you think that it’s OK to treat someone differently (i.e., badly) solely because of their sexual orientation? What does that have to do with job performance, for example?
11182967 - March 5, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Certainly Thomas Jefferson himself affirms the aptness of Virginia’s motto. Imagine how different things might be in the State of Mr. Jefferson’s university if DNA could reveal a history of gay lovers as well as lovers of a different ethnicity.
daviddbest - March 5, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Unless i’m missing some obscure law, defining a corpations anti-discrimination policies is an INHERENT authority of it’s CEO–regardless of whether that corporation is owned by a state–unless there is some law taking away that authority.If the VA legislature wants to pass a law saying that public colleges can’t define their own anti-discrimination policies, then he can talk.Otherwise, he needs to go back to law school.
thomaslawrencelong - March 5, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Virginia Is For Lovers**Some restrictions may apply.This is another reason why I am no longer a Virginian.
unclibrary - March 5, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Bigotry is alive and well in the state of Virginia. I assume the issue will end up in the VA Supreme Court. Until then, any gay state employee who wants to file a discrimination grievance can go with ‘hostile work environment’ or something instead. Maybe religious discrimination’, because it seems like only conservative Christians (and I bet not even the majority of them anymore) even WANT to discriminate against gays. Shame on the VA AG. This is sooo fifties.
akprof - March 5, 2010 at 4:51 pm
The AG of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a jerk – how is he going to react when one of his own kids “comes out”?
speterfreund - March 5, 2010 at 5:00 pm
There is something profoundly devious in excluding this one aspect of workplace/learningspace policy from local autonomy. If Virginia’s colleges and universities have the local autonomy to decide other policy matters such as those relating to smoking and firearms on campus–the latter in full recognition of what the Second Amendment says–why should the state’s position–or lack of a position–on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation be the definitive criterion to estop individual campuses from setting policy on this issue?
twillia48 - March 5, 2010 at 5:07 pm
I am no attorney, but I really believe that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment still applies to all public/state universities….even those in the state of Virginia! While ‘sexual orientation’ may not yet be a ‘suspect class’with full protections, in the absence of federal or state statutes providing protections, I think discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation by public actors is not and should not be constitutional.
mikelutz - March 5, 2010 at 5:11 pm
#12 – Flamglam1. I don’t support the AG of VA in this case, though it should noted that the VA legislature can easily rectify the situation.2. The barrage of comments about “teabaggers” and “Nazis” when referring to members of the (conservative) tea party movement give lie to your generalization about liberal tolerance.
bsaville - March 5, 2010 at 5:32 pm
So “proud” to live in Virginia. Unbelievable.
fixsen - March 5, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Dear FlamGlam – So you’re saying that we liberals should tolerate intolerance?? “Toleration” is acceptance of the views and practices of others as long as those views and practices do not cause harm to anyone. Even the tolerant should not tolerate views and practices that cause harm. I will tolerate your holding the view that homosexuality is a sin; I will not tolerate your passing laws that impinge on the rights of homosexuals.
grumpygradstudent - March 5, 2010 at 6:35 pm
VA-AG may in fact be correct in his interpretion of VA law, but just because something is legal, doesn’t necessarily mean it is the right thing to do
fullprof99 - March 5, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Doesn’t the AG have something better to do with his time than issuing dumb opinions? I’m trying to be as nice a possible about this, but a university board may come up with policies that don’t conflict with state or federal law, and so far as I know there isn’t any law favoring discrimination against gays, save perhaps the Defense of Marriage Act. However, universities don’t perform marriages.Is the AG up for reappointment soon and thus grandstanding?
bdegorge - March 5, 2010 at 7:56 pm
When government gets involved in any corporations discrimination policies, or any policies at all, we are entering a state of anrachy!
msitton - March 5, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Another confirmation that my decision to leave the state of Virginia five years ago was the right one to make.
hmlowry - March 5, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Next thing you know, the Commonwealth of Virginia will be setting up special lunch counters, requiring gays to sit in the back of the bus and declare they have to use their own drinking fountains. Oh, but they used to do that with other people who were different from the ruling class. My how things don’t change.
rambo - March 6, 2010 at 1:31 am
and many schools banned ROTC and at the same time received millions of federal financial assistance annually because some gays faculty members hated straight people….bigotry go both way.
jackancell - March 6, 2010 at 11:06 am
The AG is a jerk! I live here; I know. More attempts by conservatives to legislate/dictate morality. Plus, the VA General Assembly has spent the whole session trying to loosen gun control laws. They should have been concentrating on the budget and the huge cuts that higher ed and others have taken!
rpmthinking - March 6, 2010 at 11:15 am
#25 GrumpyGradStudent writes: VA-AG may in fact be correct in his interpretion of VA law, but just because something is legal, doesn’t necessarily mean it is the right thing to do.Regardless of which side you are on, I think the role of the AG is do what is legal.
asymptotic - March 6, 2010 at 11:39 am
It’s the 21st century and we still haven’t evolved beyond cretins. What a shame.
disembedded - March 6, 2010 at 12:20 pm
And the Republicans go sadly marching on….
drofnothing - March 6, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Virginia is for Haters. As a former resident, I can say I’ve never encountered a more duplicitous and hypocritical place than VA. The racism, sexism, elitism, and homophobia are all-pervasive. The day I waved so long to that awful place was one of the happiest of my life.
ceblackmer_1 - March 6, 2010 at 6:22 pm
I had the same immediate thought that daviddbest expressed. Unless the Virginia legislature passes a law expressly prohibiting CEOs from making policy, this fellow (who, with all due allowance, must strike logical persons as a political lackey masquerading as an officer of the law) has no business dictating anti-discrimination policies to institutions of higher education–public or not. As an out lesbian and Jewish professor of Hebrew Bible and English in a CT public institution of higher education who sits on the board of directors of my shul (and is, furthermore, an independent), I can never cease to be amazing by such astonishing failures of critical thinking. Where did he get his law degree? When was the last time he perused the Constitution? Dismal and pathetic.
ceblackmer_1 - March 6, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Dear rambo–”many schools banned ROTC and at the same time received millions of federal financial assistance annually because some gays faculty members hated straight people.” Excuse me for inquiring, but were you ever taught how to distinguish between valid and invalid terms of comparison, or, more pertinently, valid and invalid inference? I am deeply concerned about the lack of basic standards of intellectual coherence that the AG and some others exhibit. More than reducing Virginia to a laughingstock, such ludicrous sideshows indicate that our country is losing sight of the qualities of mind required to maintain international competitiveness. Given the magnitude of real adult concerns such as global warming, recession, environmental degradation, poverty, and continued erosions of academic excellence, such circus-style antics look little more than selfish, immature, incompetent, and injudicious.
knmys - March 6, 2010 at 10:14 pm
rambo – Don’t you have some ‘charlies’ to go blow up somewhere in the ‘kong’? Judging by your writing and logic, you’ve obviously not spent any time in a facility of higher education.
mbelvadi - March 7, 2010 at 1:17 pm
#12, don’t just issue idle threats, do it! We did, and have found Canada to be an absolutely wonderful place to live, and nowhere near as cold as the US stereotype (although you have to pick your location on that issue). We’re not gay, but I was thrilled to discover after moving there that Canada is one of the few countries that provides for full same sex marriage rights, because issues like gay rights are a kind of barometer for overall respect for diversity and the dignity of human beings. Canada is always looking for well-educated, socially-tolerant immigrants, and its economy is much stronger than the US’s now. Just avoid Alberta, which is really the Texas of the North, and you’ll like it.
virginiasol - March 8, 2010 at 9:06 am
#35: you must not have lived in the Deep South like I have. Virginia’s no worse than, say, Mississippi or Alabama and in certain respects it’s better. Or perhaps just less blatant.
flynnra1 - March 8, 2010 at 11:14 am
Certainly, discrimination based on sexual orientation is wrong. Cuccinelli is not saying that it is right to discriminate based on sexual orientation. It seems that he is only laying out the law, explaining that Virginia’s public colleges and universities do not have the authority to amend such policies on their own, as these policies are to be decided by the General Assembly, in response to “[s]everal inquiries [that] have been made recently regarding the authority of Virginia’s public colleges and universities to approve inclusion of ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ or like classifications in the non-discrimination policy of the respective institution.”ceblackmer_1, Cuccinelli received his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.
attic9 - March 8, 2010 at 1:57 pm
This is rather ironic as Virginia is the same state that went to the Supreme Court defending the law that prohibited interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia). Thankfully Virginia lost. But this shows that there is still a lot of bigotry. Can’t we just move on, folks? As to #32, “rpmthinking,” who wrote, “Regardless of which side you are on, I think the role of the AG is to do what is legal,” I have two comments. First, the AG CHOSE to interpret the law this way. His predecessors did not. Secondly, even if the law was clear, your logic, in an earlier era, would uphold forcing blacks to live in segregation and experience all of the concomitant degradation that went with it. It seems that you would oppose what was “right,” opposing segregation, because you prefer to uphold the law, no matter how immoral. Please straighten your spine and stand up for what is right. 32. – March 06, 2010 at 11:15 am#25 GrumpyGradStudent writes: VA-AG may in fact be correct in his interpretion of VA law, but just because something is legal, doesn’t necessarily mean it is the right thing to do.Regardless of which side you are on, I think the role of the AG is do what is legal.
flynnra1 - March 9, 2010 at 1:45 pm
attic9, it seems that his predecessors did interpret the law this way. And yes, it is the attorney general’s role to do, and uphold, what is legal. It is the General Assembly’s responsibility to change the laws.
flynnra1 - March 9, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I ought to have said that it seems that some of his predecessors did interpret the law this way, since I really don’t know about all of them.