Several
of
Virginia’s
most
anti-gay
politicians
are
facing
robust
challenges
in
next
week’s
election
and
gay
rights
advocates
in
the
state
expressed
relief
that
gay
issues
were
not
widely
used
as
a
wedge
this
year.
“Voters
are
tired
of
the
focus
the
General
Assembly
has
on
social
issues,”
said
Dyana
Mason,
Equality
Virginia’s
executive
director.
“People
recognize
that
there
are
more
important
things
to
worry
about.”
“Bread
and
butter”
issues,
like
education,
transportation
and
quality
of
life
are
most
important
to
Virginia’s
voters,
said
Mark
Rozell,
a
professor
of
public
policy
at
George
Mason
University.
Both
Democrats
and
Republicans
played
down
gay
rights
issues
this
election
season
so
as
not
to
lose
middle-of-the-road
voters,
he
said.
“Each
side
wants
to
mobilize
their
base
voters,
but
neither
wants
to
do
it
in
a
way
that
alienates
the
middle
electorate,”
he
said.
While
gay
rights
issues
may
not
have
factored
prominently
in
Virginia’s
local
and
statewide
campaigns,
those
elected
will
likely
help
set
the
tone
for
or
against
gay
rights
in
next
year’s
legislature.
Mason
said
Virginia
can
expect
the
second
round
of
the
marriage
amendment
fight,
which
passed
the
Senate
and
Assembly
last
year.
Before
it
can
go
to
a
voter
referendum,
both
houses
have
to
approve
it
again.
The
last
legislative
session
saw
the
defeat
of
several
anti-gay
measures,
including
a
ban
on
gay
adoption
and
Gay-Straight
Alliances
in
public
schools.
“It’s
going
to
be
another
tough
year,”
Mason
said.
Gubernatorial
candidate
Jerry
Kilgore
(R)
has
criticized
the
Supreme
Court’s
decision
in
Lawrence
vs.
Texas
and
supported
the
Marriage
Affirmation
Act,
which
bars
gay
couples
in
Virginia
from
forming
contracts
that
resemble
marriage
rights.
“Any
ground
we
have
gained
in
the
past
four
years
we
stand
to
lose
in
the
Kilgore
administration,”
warned
Josh
Israel,
president
of
the
Virginia
Partisans
Gay
&
Lesbian
Democratic
Club.
Kilgore
received
national
attention
when
he
hired
the
controversial
Scott
Howell
as
a
media
strategist.
Howell
ran
the
2002
Georgia
campaign
that
was
criticized
for
its
portrayal
of
U.S.
Senator
Max
Cleland
as
unpatriotic.
Cleland
lost
three
limbs
in
the
Vietnam
War.
As
state
attorney
general,
Kilgore
said
the
Fairfax
School
Board
did
not
have
the
authority
to
include
sexual
orientation
discrimination
in
its
non-discrimination
policy,
according
to
Equality
Virginia.
His
opponent,
Tim
Kaine
(D),
supports
including
sexual
orientation
in
Virginia’s
employment
non-discrimination
legislation
and
opposed
the
Marriage
Affirmation
Act.
However,
he
supports
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
same-sex
marriage
and
opposes
civil
unions.
Kaine
also
supports
Virginia’s
current
adoption
law,
which
allows
single
people
and
married
couples
to
adopt,
according
to
Delacey
Skinner
of
the
Kaine
campaign.
Some
gay
rights
activists
have
criticized
his
position
on
adoption
as
confusing.
State
Senator
Russell
Potts
(R-Winchester),
an
independent
gubernatorial
candidate,
voted
to
repeal
the
state
sodomy
law
in
2005
and
supports
adoption
rights
for
gays.
However,
he
also
voted
in
favor
of
the
marriage
amendment.
Another
closely
watched
statewide
race
is
for
attorney
general.
Republican
Bob
McDonnell,
an
Assembly
delegate
from
Virginia
Beach,
argued
in
2003
to
block
the
reappointment
of
Circuit
Court
Judge
Verbena
Askew
of
Newport
News,
claiming
that
her
perceived
sexual
orientation
meant
she
violated
the
state’s
“crimes
against
nature
law.”
The
Virginia
Family
Foundation,
a
social
conservative
group
in
Virginia,
supports
McDonnell.
McDonnell
voted
for
the
Virginia
marriage
amendment
and
a
resolution
urging
Congress
to
pass
a
Federal
Marriage
Amendment,
according
to
Equality
Virginia.
He
also
has
not
signed
Equality
Virginia’s
employment
non-discrimination
pledge.
McDonnell
voted
against
a
law
to
allow
private
companies
to
offer
domestic
partner
health
insurance,
something
his
opponent
supported.
McDonnell
also
supported
the
failed
anti-gay
adoption
bill.
According
to
the
Virginia
Public
Access
Project,
a
campaign
finance
tracking
organization,
McDonnell
received
$36,000
from
Pat
Robertson,
the
founder
of
the
Christian
Broadcasting
Network.
The
Democratic
challenger,
Sen.
Creigh
Deeds
(D-Bath),
also
voted
in
favor
of
the
marriage
amendment
but
voted
against
the
final
version
of
the
Marriage
Affirmation
bill.
Unlike
McDonnell,
Deeds
signed
Equality
Virginia’s
employment
non-discrimination
pledge.
Some
of
the
most
vocally
anti-gay
state
representatives
are
facing
viable
challenges
this
year.
Del.
Dick
Black
(R-Loudoun),
co-author
of
the
2004
Marriage
Affirmation
Act,
is
running
for
re-election
in
the
32nd
District.
“[Black]
is
quite
possibly
the
most
anti-gay,
anti-choice,
right-wing
nut
case
in
any
state
legislature
in
the
country,”
Israel
said.
“The
race
is
very
close
and
if
Poisson
wins
I
think
that
it
will
send
a
very
loud
signal
to
Virginia
Republicans
that
they’re
not
going
to
win
on
division
and
demagoguery.”
Earlier
this
year,
Black
introduced
a
bill
that
would
have
prevented
gay
Virginians
from
becoming
adoptive
parents.
The
measure
did
not
pass.
Black
has
also
argued
for
restrictions
on
birth
control;
he
sponsored
bills
to
classify
birth
control
as
abortion
and
to
remove
the
requirement
that
couples
issued
marriage
licenses
be
provided
information
on
family
planning
and
sexually
transmitted
diseases.
Black
proposed
reinstating
the
“family
rule”
that
required
that
the
Virginia
Housing
Development
Authority
grant
special
low
interest
loans
only
to
married
couples.
David
Poisson,
his
Democratic
challenger,
openly
objected
to
Black’s
position
on
the
housing
rule
and
supports
civil
unions
for
gay
couples.
Bob
Marshall
(R-Manassas),
another
anti-gay
incumbent
and
co-author
of
the
Marriage
Affirmation
Act,
is
in
a
close
race
for
the
13th
District,
which
he
has
represented
since
1992.
The
Log
Cabin
Republicans
of
Virginia
called
Marshall
a
“far
right
demagogue”
after
the
Marriage
Affirmation
vote
in
April
2004.
“We
implore
Republicans
to
resist
the
temptation
to
acquiesce
in
the
dirty
work
of
bullies
like
Marshall
and
instead
support
legal
equality
for
everyone,
including
gay
and
lesbian
Virginians,”
said
David
Lampo,
vice
president
of
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans
in
Virginia
in
a
statement.
Marshall
has
been
an
outspoken
opponent
of
gay
rights.
He
criticized
the
Supreme
Court’s
Lawrence
decision
in
an
editorial
for
...
