News
W.Va. voters elect first openly gay state lawmaker
Stephen Skinner will represent portions of Jefferson County in the West Virginia House of Delegates


West Virginia Del. Stephen Skinner (D-Shepherdstown) is the first openly gay person elected to the state legislature. (Photo courtesy of Stephen Skinner)
A West Virginia lawyer on Tuesday became the first openly gay person elected to his stateās legislature.
Stephen Skinner will represent Harperās Ferry, Shepherdstown and surrounding areas of Jefferson County in the far Eastern Panhandle in the West Virginia House of Delegates after defeating Republican Elliot Simon.
āIt feels great,ā Skinner told the Washington Blade on Thursday as he discussed his election. āCertainly we can recognize it is historic, but we also must remember that itās about serving the constituents. This is about getting the votes from folks who have the same everyday problems as anybody.ā
Skinner is among the hundreds of openly LGBT candidates across the country who won their respective campaigns on Tuesday. These include gay Florida state Rep.-elect Joe Saunders and Stacie Laughton, a Nashua, N.H., selectman who on Tuesday became the first openly transgender person elected to state office in the U.S. after voters elected her to the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
Skinner, who founded Fairness West Virginia, a statewide LGBT advocacy group, told the Blade there were what he described as āsome rumblings aboutā his homosexuality āon the edgesā during the campaign. He cited lesbian Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwinās historic election to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday as proof that voters are increasingly able to look beyond a candidateās sexual orientation.
āWeāre at a point in time at least in this part of West Virginia where if my opponent or outside forces had attempted to make it an issue, it would have backfired,ā said Skinner.
Joe Racalto, executive director of Fairness West Virginia, applauded Skinnerās election. His organization will honor him, among others at its annual gala in Charleston, the state capital, on Saturday.
āHistory was made today in West Virginia,ā said Racalto in a statement late on Nov. 6. āDelegate-Elect Skinner is proof that people should be judged by their ideas and vision, not who they love. West Virginians should be applauded for breaking this important barrier.ā
Coy A. Flowers, president of Fairness West Virginiaās Board of Directors, agreed.
āOn behalf of the nearly 40,000 West Virginians who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and for the over 3,000 same sex couples who are raising children in this state, we are ecstatic that our community finally has a true seat at the table in the West Virginia Legislature,ā said Flowers. āFinally, our legislative elected officials will be held accountable on issues of fairness and equality for all our stateās citizens.ā
Skinner noted the economy and jobs were the top issues among his soon-to-be constituents during the campaign. He also said health care and increased traffic associated with an influx of new residents who often commute into the nationās capital are also a concern.
āWeāre just 65 miles up the Potomac [from D.C.,]ā he said. āDevelopmentās a big issue, but we also have gambling is an enormous issue because we derive a lot of our revenue from the Charles Town races. In my district we have two MARC train stations, so we have lots of commuters. Lots of folks work on the Hill and live out here. Weāre constantly dealing with the issues of being a community that still retains a lot of its rural character, but is very connected into the D.C. metro area.ā
Skinner added the districtās geographical isolation from Charleston and other parts of the state remains an issue.
āWe feel very disconnected from the state capital,ā he said, noting it takes him less time to drive to Manhattan and five other state capitals than it does to Charleston. “The issues in the rest of the state arenāt necessarily our issues ā and vice versa. But weāre experiencing tremendous population growth and itās sometimes from within in the state and for a lot of people theyāre simply living here because itās affordable housing and a great place to live.ā
Home prices in Jefferson County are the highest per capita in West Virginia, while its population is statistically the most educated in the state. Skinner said there are also a lot of āfolks who are forward thinkingā in Jefferson County.
āWe have to make sure the legislators in the Eastern Panhandle are making sure that we are able to have the data to show to the rest of the state the difference, but also that we are generating a huge amount of the revenues for the state,ā he said. āWe need to make sure that we are getting the correct amount back.ā
Skinner said he and other LGBT advocates will continue to push for a bill that would add sexual orientation to West Virginiaās non-discrimination law. He noted he will also work with his soon-to-be colleagues in Charleston on the implementation of expanded Medicare coverage under the health care reform law President Obama signed in 2010.
West Virginia is also about to implement what Skinner described as an āenormousā reform of the stateās education system.
āHaving more autonomy and less centralization in a state like West Virginia is going to be pretty important for our future success,ā he said.
The White House
VP Harris to oversee White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Goal is to implement and expand upon legislation, executive actions

The White House announced Thursday evening that President Joe Biden on Friday will establish the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, to be overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The office will focus on implementing and expanding upon executive and legislative actions, including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, “to reduce gun violence, which has ravaged communities across the country.”
Serving under Harris will be Stefanie Feldman, “a longtime policy advisor to President Biden on gun violence prevention,” and “leading gun violence prevention advocates Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox.”
āEvery time Iāve met with families impacted by gun violence as they mourn their loved ones, and Iāve met with so many throughout the country, they all have the same message for their elected officials: ādo something,'” Biden said in a statement.
The president noted his signing of last year’s bipartisan gun violence prevention law, a flagship legislative accomplishment for the administration, along with his issuance of more executive actions than any president in history to address this problem.
Calling these “just the first steps,” Biden said the establishment of the White House Office on Gun Violence Prevention will “build upon these measures and keep Americans safe.”
He also urged Congress to do more by passing legislation requiring universal background checks, and baning assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
In a statement, Harris said, “This epidemic of gun violence requires urgent leadership to end the fear and trauma that Americans experience every day.”
“The new Office of Gun Violence Prevention will play a critical role in implementing President Bidenās and my efforts to reduce violence to the fullest extent under the law,” she said, “while also engaging and encouraging Congressional leaders, state and local leaders, and advocates to come together to build upon the meaningful progress that we have made to save lives.”
“Our promise to the American people is this: we will not stop working to end the epidemic of gun violence in every community, because we do not have a moment, nor a life to spare,” the vice president said.

Wolf, a Pulse survivor, was recently appointed National Press Secretary of the Human Rights Campaign.
(Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

A group of four hardline House Republicans on Thursday joined Democratic colleagues to sink their own spending bill, a $886 billion military appropriations package full of riders from GOP members that include anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ provisions.
The 216-212 vote raised the likelihood of a government shutdown if lawmakers are unable to forge a path forward before the end of September.
“Instead of decreasing the chance of a shutdown, Speaker McCarthy is actually increasing it by wasting time on extremist proposals that cannot become law in the Senate,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.
His counterpart in the House, Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) expressed frustration with his own caucus, characterizing the impasse he has reached with colleagues as āfrustrating in the sense that I donāt understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate.”
āAnd then you got all the amendments if you donāt like the bill,” he continued. “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down — it doesnāt work.”
A group of 155 House Democrats on Thursday issued a letter objecting to anti-LGBTQ provisions in the bill, the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, addressing the message to U.S. Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chair and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
The effort was led by Congressional Equality Caucus Chair U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and the co-chairs of the Caucus’s Transgender Equality Task Force, U.S. Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
Specifically, the letter argues several anti-equality amendments would “actively target LGBTQ+ service members and LGBTQ+ dependents and threaten the recruitment, retention, and readiness of our Armed Forces.”
Among these are riders prohibiting coverage of gender affirming healthcare interventions for service members and their dependents; banning LGBTQ Pride flags, drag shows and other events; and restricting funding for certain books in schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity.
Canada
Eight jailed across Canada during anti-LGBTQ sex ed rallies
Prime minister condemned bigotry; counterprotests outnumbered demonstrations

A highly coordinated series of anti-LGBTQ protests rocked more than 80 cities across Canada on Wednesday, in a significant escalation of tactics by Canadaās anti-LGBTQ extremists.
The coordinated protests dubbed 1 Million March 4 Children are demanding an end to discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in Canadian classrooms. They come as several Canadian provinces have enacted policies that require students to have parental permission to change their preferred name or pronoun used in schools, and shortly after the federal Conservative Party adopted a series of anti-trans policies at its national convention.
According to its website, 1 Million March 4 Children is calling for āthe elimination of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculum, pronouns, gender ideology and mixed bathrooms in schools.ā The website also lists among its supporters numerous groups that were opposed to masking policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-vaccine groups, groups that promote conspiracy theories, and groups that support the truck convoys that laid siege to Ottawa and several U.S. border crossings last year.
Protests happened from coast to coast, in big cities, suburbs and small towns, but in most cases, they were met with coordinated counter-protests in support of LGBTQ rights who greatly outnumbered the protesters.
CBC reported that counter-protesters numbered roughly double the anti-LGBTQ protesters in St. Johnās, Newfoundland.
Inclusive sex education has long been part of school curriculums in most provinces in Canada and has generally enjoyed support from all major political parties.
While the protests where mostly peaceful, at least four anti-LGBTQ protesters were arrested after getting into altercations with counter-protestors in British Columbia, and police advised that the protest in front of the provincial legislature had become āunsafe.ā
Police in Nanaimo, British Columbia, tackled and arrested one man who attempted to flee after allegedly getting into a physical altercation at City Hall. Two protestors were also arrested in Victoria, British Columbia, as they demonstrated in front of the provincial legislature, and another protester was arrested in Vancouver. Police in both cities did not provide additional information.
Ottawa police also arrested two protesters for allegedly inciting hatred and another for causing a disturbance in at the protest in front of Parliament.
And Toronto police arrested 47-year-old protester Julia Stevenson for allegedly bringing a weapon to the demonstration outside the provincial legislature. Police did not give further details about what kind of weapon she is alleged to have been carrying.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, condemned the anti-LGBTQ protests in aĀ tweet on X, formerly Twitter.
āLet me make one thing very clear: Transphobia, homophobia and biphobia have no place in this country. We strongly condemn this hate and its manifestations, and we stand united in support of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians across the country ā you are valid and you are valued,ā he wrote.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre did not put out any statement on the protests, nor did deputy leader Melissa Lantsman, who is openly lesbian and has previously spoken out on LGBTQ issues on behalf of the party.
The leader of the left-leaning New Democratic Party Jagmeet Singh joined the counter-protestors who demonstrated in Ottawa and marched toward Parliament Hill.
āWe know that thereās a lot of folks that donāt feel safe because of the rise in hate and division thatās targeting vulnerable people,ā Singh told CTV. āBut then you see a lot of people coming together, and it shows the strength of solidarity, of us supporting each other, of having each otherās back.ā
Alberta Teachersā Association President Jason Schilling says the protesters are part of a North America-wide movement fomenting hatred against queer people using misinformation and lies.
āUsing āparental consentā as camouflage, this rally was part of a coordinated strike across North America to promote misinformation, intolerance and hate toward the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, as well as toward teachers who work to protect the safety and well-being of all students,ā Schilling said in a statement.
In many cities, the anti-LGBTQ protests were officially condemned by mayors and school boards.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who has publicly supported LGBTQ rights since the 1980s, issued a strong statement condemning the protests.
āWe stand against all forms of discrimination, hatred and bigotry, and for the safety and well-being of all young people. Some wish to target our schools and libraries to spread hate. We know these must be spaces that welcome everyone, especially students,ā Chow wrote.
The city of Whitehorse, Yukon, issued a statement condemning bigotry in advance of the protests.
āWhile the city supports peopleās right to organize and protest, we stand by our 2SLGBTQIA+ community members and their right to live their true selves safely and free of harassment and hate. The promotion of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ ideas has no place in our community and messages that target fellow community members will not be tolerated,ā the statement says.
However, New Brunswick Primer Blaine Higgs, who was the first to introduce a āparental consentā policy for trans students, joined the protesters in front of the provincial legislature in Fredericton.
āI think our parents should become knowledgeable about what their kids are being taught and what is important for them to learn in schools and whatās important for parents to make decisions on with kids that are under 16-years-old,ā Higgs told reporters.
British Columbia Conservative Party leader John Rustad went further in a statement on the protests. While he says he doesnāt āofficiallyā support the protests, if his party wins next yearās election, he promised to cancel the provinceās sex ed curriculum and implied he would ban transgender girls from sports.
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