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Va. Students Push Against AG Order


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University students in Virginia on Monday pushed against an order from state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli that public universities should drop sexual orientation from their nondiscrimination policies.

Cuccinelli sent a letter to schools last week, saying that only the general assembly has the authority to extend legal protections. The Republican-led House of Delegates recently defeated the latest attempt to extend the protections.

In addition to thousands of students who joined Facebook pages against the order, others not on spring break planned rallies this week, according to The Washington Post. 

“Students at Virginia Commonwealth University, one of the few in the state not on break, planned a rally for noon Wednesday, with several hundred students committed. At Christopher Newport University, student Republican and Democratic leaders will discuss their next steps at a bipartisan meeting Friday,” reported the Post.

Industry leaders also worry that rescinding the protections, which are in place at all the state’s largest schools, could reduce the competitiveness of Virginia’s higher-education system.

According to the Post, Gov. Bob McDonnell, who ran on a ticket with Cuccinelli last fall, supports the legal reasoning of his attorney general’s letter but says he is personally opposed to discrimination. Democratic lawmakers are calling on him to push for a bill that protects against antigay discrimination.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Jeffrey F.
    Date posted: 3/11/2010 1:03:07 PM
    Hometown: Kennerdell, PA

    Comment:

    That's the only way for anti-gays to not take away the protections. Make it illegal on a statewide level. Why not federal?

  • Name: Davya
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 7:02:00 PM
    Hometown: Wynnewood, PA

    Comment:

    Libertarian action.

  • Name: Markus
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 3:14:36 PM
    Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA

    Comment:

    Mr. Cuccinelli, you are an embarassment to not only the State of Virginia, but to society itself. You've supposedly devoted your life and career to law-laws that are designed to be created equally for EVERYONE. How dare you attempt to influence and twist the law to fulfill your personal biases. Mr. Cuccinelli, you are a disgrace and your legal mind is filled with bias and hatred. The LGBT community will remember your name from here on out and we will never forget how you've used our oppressed community to incite hatred for all hard-working, well-minded Virginia public university students. I truly have pity for you.

  • Name: Thad
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 3:00:59 PM
    Hometown: SF

    Comment:

    The reasoning IS sound LEAGALLY, just like a lot of anti-LBGT things in America which is why there's the suggestion at the end that they should pass a bill that would protect students. I go to the university of houston where some of our LGBT protections are a gentleman's agreement rather than binding law, something we've been fighting over for a while now.

  • Name: Frederick9
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 12:09:32 PM
    Hometown: Santos, Brazil

    Comment:

    McDonnell's position is utterly ridiculous. He is opposed to discrimination but wants all enforcement against it removed (and selectively only against the gays). At least his wacko AG is upfront with his outright hatred and bigotry.

  • Name: Brian
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 12:06:12 PM
    Hometown: St. Louis

    Comment:

    Boy am I glad that young people are the ones pushing back against this nitwit. What you are hearing folks is the long term death throes of the Republican Party. It will take a while, but they are going down.

  • Name: Jester
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 11:21:37 AM
    Hometown: Oakland

    Comment:

    When I was looking for a tenure track position a couple of years ago, any university that didn't provide equal benefits for LGBT employees didn't even warrant an application. No anti-discrimination policy? Forget it. Would this policy make it harder to recruit and retain quality faculty? You bet. In this economic climate, junior faculty might still take such a job, but within a year or two will be looking to "upgrade" and move to a university in a more supportive state. This will cause Virginia universities to lose out on many of the best candidates and increase significantly recruit costs, as faculty retention will become a problem.

  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 11:05:07 AM
    Hometown: Wappingers Falls

    Comment:

    As it did with the Viet Nam war, hopefully our revolution will start on the college campuses. I hope every college student floods this bigot's office and demands his homophobia end then work to get him replaced at the next election.

  • Name: Jay
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 10:49:35 AM
    Hometown: Santa Monica

    Comment:

    It is no surprise that this crazy attorney general and equally absurd governor are anti-gay. The people were stupid enough to elect them. But I hope their anti-gay policies will cost them and the state. Any business or industry that locates in Virginia should be boycotted unless they adopt very strong equal benefits and nondiscrimination policies. The universities should become pariahs in academe unless they resist the attorney general and refuse to dismantle their nondiscrimination policies.

  • Name: KC
    Date posted: 3/9/2010 10:41:37 AM
    Hometown: Playa del Coco

    Comment:

    For some time, I've felt that the Republicans have wanted to push reality back a few centuries, but the Virginia AG seems to want to go back nearly 1000 years. His dictum that only the State can grant protections parallels that of the City of Paris in the Middle Ages when trying to dictate to the Sorbonne. One can only presume that the results will be the same and that the integrity of Colleges and Universities being independent of the State will continue.



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