Virginia’s Senate voted Monday to ban discrimination against gays in state employment and hiring, seeking to codify a rule put in place by the last two Democratic governors.
In a 23-17 vote, the Democrat-majority chamber passed legislation that would add protections for sexual orientation to the state’s anti-discrimination statute. The bill likely will face a greater challenge in the Republican-led House .
In other Richmond news
» Virginia’s Senate passed legislation that would ban talking on a cell phone behind the wheel without a hands-free device. A similar bill already has been shot down in a House committee. The effort comes a year after the General Assembly passed a ban on texting while driving.
The measure would serve essentially the same purpose as executive orders issued by former Govs. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Newly inaugurated Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, has yet to implement such a policy, which he has argued is outside of his authority. As Virginia attorney general, McDonnell issued an opinion in 2006 that Kaine’s executive order barring discrimination violated the state’s constitution.
Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, said his bill would write into law “those widely held beliefs that have been echoed by past administrations and ought to be echoed by this General Assembly.”
“The time has come, it is the right thing to do, and this is the right time to do it,” McEachin said.
One Republican senator, Frederick Quayle, R-Suffolk, broke ranks to support the legislation.
Opponents called the bill unnecessary, since state agencies already follow the anti-discrimination practice on their own, and argued it would create new liabilities for the commonwealth.
The bill “gives an avenue for filing lawsuits and grievances for perceived slights,” said Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. “Or for no perceived slights at all, in the event that one has the ability to claim they are being discriminated for any of these reasons.”
The conservative Family Foundation said after the vote it was “confident that this legislation will not see similar support in the House of Delegates.”
Sen. Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Springfield, said opponents of the legislation would end up regretting their votes, just as foes of school integration ended up regretting their support of the South’s pro-segregation “Massive Resistance” movement.
A McDonnell spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
