Non-discrimination bill among topics discussed at Alexandria town hall

A bill that would have banned discrimination against Virginia’s LGBT state employees was among the topics discussed during an Alexandria town hall meeting on Saturday.

“I was really happy that we were able to get that [Senate Bill 701] out of the Senate on a 24-16 vote,” gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) said during the gathering at the Charles Houston Recreation Center at which state Del. Rob Krupicka (D-Alexandria) also spoke. “We were able to convince four Republican colleagues to vote with the Democrats on that.”

The town hall took place four days after a House of Delegates subcommittee tabled SB 701.

Ebbin, who attended a second town hall in Mount Vernon earlier in the day, spoke hours after the House Courts of Justice Committee unanimously approved his proposal that would repeal an 1873 law that bans co-habitation among unmarried couples. Governor Bob McDonnell late last month said he supports the so-called “Love Shack” bill.

“I thought it was simple,” Ebbin said, referring to the attention his measure has received as members of the audience laughed. “I didn’t think the Washington Post would make a big deal of it.”

Krupicka further cited Medicaid expansion, transportation funding, public safety and voting rights are among the top issues before state lawmakers.

State Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) last month introduced a bill that would have repealed the commonwealth’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that Virginia voters approved in 2006. A House of Delegates subcommittee defeated the proposal.