The Breakdown: Overview of events leading to Cuccinelli letter

Robin Hertel
Contributing Writer

A bill banning the discrimination of state employees based on sexual orientation was rejected by a House subcommittee last week, which triggered a recent series of events revolving around the issue.

SB 66, sponsored by Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, cleared the Senate on a 23-17 vote in February.

But last week, a subcommittee of the House General Laws Committee voted 5-3 to table the bill. The vote was along party lines: The five Republicans on the subcommittee voted in favor of tabling the bill; the three Democrats voted against tabling it.

McEachin introduced the bill in response to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Executive Order No. 6. The order, which the Republican governor signed during his first week in office, removed “sexual orientation” from his Democratic predecessor’s ban against discrimination in state employment.

McEachin said McDonnell encouraged legislators to take action on their own.

“We took governor at his word,” McEachin said. “In his campaign, the governor said he was opposed to discrimination in the workforce. Unfortunately, he has never voiced his opinions during office.”

Three days after the subcommittee’s action, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sent letters to Virginia’s public colleges and universities, advising them to rescind their policies banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Cuccinelli said the schools lacked legislative authority to prohibit such discrimination.

McDonnell’s office stated at last week’s hearing for SB 66 that it had no position on the bill.

McEachin said the recent actions of the state government are heading in the wrong direction.

“It certainly shows that Virginia is recoiling on civil rights,” McEachin said. “For the first time in history, we are taking rights away or not protecting a certain group of people. I certainly think it’s a significant step backwards.”

But others disagree. For example, the Family Foundation, a group of conservatives dedicated to “protecting traditional values,” applauded Cuccinelli’s letter and the defeat of SB 66.

In a note to its supporters, the Family Foundation said the attorney general is simply telling universities to “follow the law – Virginia law does not carve out discrimination protections for homosexuals, as it does for race, color, creed and national origin.”

The foundation said there isn’t “any actual evidence” that gays and lesbians have been discriminated against in state employment.
SB 66 is “a solution in search of a problem,” the group said on its blog.

“It really is not about discrimination. It is about government recognition – acceptance – of the homosexual lifestyle. … The goal is not anti-discrimination – it is forced acceptance of a lifestyle that many Virginians find antithetical to their faith.”