The newly elected Attorney General of Virginia had no sooner let the new gold leaf lettering dry on his office door before he issued a decree to Virginia colleges to end protections for gay people.
Ken Cuccinelli II sent a letter to each public school and university in Virginia directing them to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing that their boards of visitors had no legal authority to adopt such statements.
His policies seem to work in perfect harmony with those of the new governor, Robert McDonnell, whose masters thesis at Regent University said that working women and feminists were "detrimental" to the family. He also maintained that government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators." He described as "illogical" a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples.
The real result of their actions are that gay teachers and administrators will not be allowed health benefits for their partners. This seems petty and vindictive to me and patently unfair. Of course, Christian conservative groups like the Family Foundation vigorously applaud his actions, preferring to punish the sodomites and the fornicators with the full brunt of state law.
Gay people should not have to jump through hoops to get equal access to health benefits or the right to survivorship. This type of behavior by the Virginia A.G. unmasks the petty vindictiveness of the so called moral majority. I hope that american citizens of all sexual preferences will choose to spend their money in a state with more progressive and human values and boycott the commonwealth of Virginia.
Virginia is for lovers (as long as they are straight.)
