|
Friday, July 25, 2008
Ending workforce discrimination for public employees will be the top goal in the next legislative session for Equality Virginia, the largest non-partisan gay advocacy group in the state.
The organization named such legislation as its top priority among other bills planned for next year at a conference in Richmond on July 12.
Equality Virginia makes these plans as it begins its search for a replacement for its executive director, Dyana Mason, who announced July 17 her plans to leave the organization by the end of this year.
Mason, a 37-year-old lesbian and Richmond resident, was hired to take the reins of the group in early 2003. Equality Virginia is launching a nationwide search this fall to find her replacement. She didn’t say why she’s resigning.
If Virginia’s General Assembly enacts the non-discrimination law proposed at the conference, it would reinforce an executive order issued by Gov. Tim Kaine (D) in 2006 prohibiting discrimination for state and public employees. The order renewed a policy initiated under former Gov. Mark Warner (D).
Mason said her organization identified a non-discrimination law as a top priority because it’s “something that is becoming more and more urgent” as Virginia prepares for its 2009 gubernatorial election.
“There’s no guarantee that the next governor will implement a similar policy that will include everyone in the state equally,” she said.
Mason said codifying Kaine’s executive order would also give more teeth to the policy. At least one former Virginia public employee is claiming that he was fired for his sexual orientation, even with the executive order in place.
Former Martinsville, Va., resident Michael Moore, who is gay, said he was forced to resign from his position at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in 2006 because of his sexual orientation. While Moore filed a petition with the Office of Equal Employment Services in the same year to grieve his termination, the case has not yet been resolved.
Mason said having a law in place to reinforce the executive order “sends a much stronger message to the agencies and others that the state does not condone any sort of discrimination whatsoever.”
The executive director said Equality Virginia supports fully inclusive legislation that would provide protection for both sexual orientation and gender identity.
Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) has introduced legislation prohibiting discrimination for Virginia’s public employees in 2007 and 2008. While both bills had more than 50 co-sponsors, they never made it out of the subcommittees to which they’d been assigned.
Ebbin, the only openly gay lawmaker in the Virginia General Assembly, plans to introduce the legislation again in the next session.
The lawmaker said he was pleased to hear that his bill would be the No. 1 priority for Equality Virginia. Ebbin said he had no idea that the organization intended to make the bill a priority before he heard the announcement at the convention.
Ebbin said the legislation “may stand a better chance” of being passed in the next legislative session because Republican lawmakers are beginning to see that being hostile to gay-friendly bills could be an impediment to re-election.
“I think it’s becoming more clear that Republicans realize that being seen as unfair by the public regarding gays and lesbians would not give them any sort of advantage,” he said.
A Republican majority controls the Virginia House.
Mason acknowledged that getting the bill passed in the next legislative session would be tough. She said Equality Virginia is considering a “dual strategy” where lawmakers would introduce a version of the bill in both the House and the Senate. The organization will also encourage municipalities to pass ordinances recommending passage of the bill, she said.
Ebbin said that getting gay-friendly legislation passed in the next session will be more difficult if Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) replaces Kaine as Virginia’s governor.
Many political pundits identify Kaine as someone on the short list of running mate candidates for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. If Obama selects Kaine as his running mate and wins the White House, the governorship would be vacant and Bolling would take the position.
Ebbin predicted doom for gay efforts in Virginia if such events were to unfold.
“I think that if Bill Bolling were to become the governor, we could not expect any pro-gay legislation to be signed,” Ebbin said. “The bottom line is Kaine is a friend and Bolling is an enemy to fairness.”
While Equality Virginia makes plans for bills that would positively benefit Virginia’s gay community, there is also an expectation that lawmakers will introduce anti-gay bills.
Board member Dan Bouchard said he expects “a very tough legislative year” in 2009 because it is an election year for Virginia lawmakers. Many lawmakers, including some Democrats, may voice support for actions against the gay community to maintain their seats.
“People are posturing to get re-elected,” he said. “Most of those Democrats [in the Legislature] are wanting to play more to the center than they are to our issues.”
Popular anti-gay bills that lawmakers often introduce include legislation inhibiting gay adoption and gay clubs in high schools.
But whatever the fate of legislation next year, Mason’s plans to resign means she will not be with Equality Virginia as the events unfold.
“I find after more than five years, that it is my time to move on,” she said in a statement.
Mason declined to answer further questions about her plans including whether she will stay in Virginia.
In a similar move, Dan Furmansky, the executive director of Equality Maryland, announced earlier this year that he also plans to leave his position by year’s end.
Mason said Equality Virginia has grown from “a small, under-funded organization” to become “the most respected and effective GLBT advocacy organization in the state” thanks to support from the organization’s board and supporters.
Mark Board, the chair of the board for Equality Virginia, commended Mason for her past work.
Board said Mason has taken Equality Virginia from being “a new organization with a grassroots mentality to being the state’s leading gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocate.”
Ebbin also commended Mason for her work, but said he did not expect her move to inhibit Equality Virginia’s legislative agenda.
“Dyana has helped build the organization to where it has a good capacity,” he said. “She’s certainly going to be missed, but she’s not their primary lobbying [person].”
Other goals for Equality Virginia include helping to set up a registry at the state’s Health Department. A law signed by Kaine on March 4 enabled the department to establish this registry for living wills and advanced medical directives. Those in same-sex relationships could file a directive with the registry designating their partner as the person who would make medical decisions on their behalf.
The law went into effect July 1, but the registry is still in the process of being set up. No directives have yet been filed with the Health Department.
Mason said Equality Virginia is working with the department to set up the registry and speculated that getting it online would take a few months.
“We’re going to be involved in the process over the next several months as the database is created and make sure everybody knows about it once it gets up and online,” she said.
Equality Virginia is also making plans to reach out more to minority groups in Virginia. Bouchard, who works on the outreach committee for the organization, said there is a perception that Equality Virginia is “primarily a white organization.”
“My goal is trying to expose ourselves to minority interests and figuring what minority issues we could best address,” he said.
Bouchard said his organization is looking at which gay issues are most important to Virginia’s minority groups, such as the black and Latino communities. Bouchard is planning some meetings with organizations, such as the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, to address this issue.
In the long term, Equality Virginia is working on achieving marriage rights for gay couples in Virginia. The Marshall-Newman Amendment to Virginia’s state constitution, which was approved by the General Assembly and 57 percent of voters in the 2006 election, prohibits same-sex marriage in the state.
“We have a growing number of people who support our side on this issue,” Mason said. “We have to continue to educate all Virginians about the obstacles facing our families.”
Mason said there could be movement on same-sex marriage in Virginia in about five to 10 years.
Equality Virginia is also working on its strategic plan for fiscal years 2009-2011. The plan will condense the organization’s agenda into three primary issues areas: ending discrimination, protecting families and building safe communities.
|
 |
