Virginia
Va. lawmaker accused of destroying neighbors’ property
State Del. Dave LaRock said Pride flags were meant to provoke him
A Northern Virginia lawmaker is facing accusations of property destruction after removing signs and security camera posts installed by neighbors on shared property.
State Del. Dave LaRock (R-Loudoun County), who has represented the area since 2014, shares an easement road with his neighbors, Walter and Christina Curfman, that leads to his Hamilton home that is currently for sale. The couple has accused LaRock of criminally removing the posts and signs and breaking the cameras in the process.
Footage from the couple’s property shows LaRock removing private property signs from the couple’s fence and uprooting security camera posts from the ground before dropping them onto the couple’s yard within the fenced area.
The Curfmans also placed atop their fence posts a number of Pride flags.
Representing Virginia’s 33rd District that covers parts of Loudoun, Clarke and Frederick Counties, LaRock has established himself as a conservative member of the House’s Republican Caucus. Alongside his support for conservative causes that include abortion rights restrictions, religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and the ability to pray in public schools, LaRock has historically expressed opposition to public Pride displays.
In 2016, responding to a proposal from the Loudoun County supervisor to recognize June as Pride Month, he wrote that “while there may be instances where Pride is a good thing … having our Loudoun County government publicly proclaim to be proud of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) movement is not such an instance.”
Such a public proclamation of Pride, LaRock wrote at the time, “promotes homosexuality and gender confusion to people of all ages but ignores the real physical and psychological harms associated with those lifestyles and the harm of the sexually explicitly material used to promote, affirm and recruit young school-aged children to those lifestyles.”
While LaRock did not remove the flags posted along the fence, LaRock believes that their presence was meant to provoke his ire.
“Maybe she just wants all our guests to know that they are supporters of the LGBT community,” LaRock said in an interview with NBC4. “Or maybe [Curfman’s] doing it because she thinks it bothers me.”
The incident is not the first to occur along the easement road between the neighbors’ homes.
Last year, court documents detail that LaRock had been found guilty in the Loudoun County General District Court of two counts of pulling down his neighbors’ fence or leaving a gate open following incidents in October 2020. LaRock was later acquitted of the misdemeanor charges upon appeal to the Loudoun County Circuit Court, where Judge Daniel Bouton rejected the assertion that such incidents merited a criminal case.
LaRock’s office did not respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment but told NBC4 that he will take the issue back to the courts as he plans to file a civil lawsuit to affirm actions and interpretation of what activities and uses are permissible within the easement area.
Virginia
Virginia Anti-Violence Project struggles to fill federal funding gaps
Group has lost 54 percent of funding since 2020
A loss of federal funding has threatened to adversely impact the Virginia Anti-Violence Project’s work in the state.
The group’s mission is to assist LGBTQ and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) victims of domestic, sexual, interpersonal, and state violence with direct support, education, and advocacy. The VAVP seeks to build a future where LGBTQ and BIPOC individuals can live freely without a sense for worry about violence.
“Virginia Anti-Violence Project helps to close the distance between services existing and LGBTQIA+ survivors actually being able to reach safety, stable housing, and support that they can trust,” VAVP Executive Director Ebony Clark told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. “Our mission is to provide direct services and advocacy to LGBTQ+ survivors across Virginia.”
Clark said obtaining state and federal funds has become increasingly difficult.
“One of the reasons that we can talk about is politics and how you know queer diverse, queer communities are targets when it comes to politics, and so that may be a reason why the funding is decreasing in in very niche areas, but overall, state funding, federal funding has been lost or significantly reduced when it comes to culturally specific marginalized populations,” Clark said. “The bigger picture is that funding that was purposed for diversity, equity, inclusion, marginalized populations, or you know culturally competent programming, those funds have been strategically reduced or eliminated on state and federal levels overall.”
Even more so with the current Trump-Vance administration.
Data shows federal funding for one “major federal victim-services funding stream in” Virginia has dropped 54 percent over the last six years: from $25.1 million in fiscal year 2020 to $11.6 million in fiscal year 2026.
Clark noted some federal funding has been denied due to VAVP’s DEI policies — it has had to “water down” their language. These cuts have forced VAVP to limit housing and economic support, which has resulted in fewer resources for its clients.
The organization has set up a goal for receiving between $250,000-$300,000 a year that would allow it to operate — and focus on client housing.
“Housing is fundamental to safety,” Clark told the Blade. “If you know leaving violence puts someone on the street or forces them back to the person harming them, that means the crisis isn’t over. So there needs to be other prevention strategies and reactive strategies in place to be able to prevent further violence from folks.”
VAVP has set up a link for anyone who is interested in making a donation. It is here.
The VAVP website is also accepting donations.
Virginia
Winsome Earle-Sears ‘Life and Marriage Tour’ to include Northern Va. stops
Voters to consider marriage equality, reproductive rights referenda in November
Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has announced her campaign against efforts to enshrine marriage equality and reproductive rights in the state constitution will make several stops in Northern Virginia.
Her “Life and Marriage Tour” will include stops in Manassas, Winchester, and Harrisonburg. Earle-Sears said the “Life and Marriage Tour” will also travel to Virginia Beach, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville, and other cities across Virginia “throughout September and October.”
The announcement did not include specific dates.
“Virginia, you’ve been asking where the Life and Marriage Tour is headed — here’s a look at our current tour locations,” she said on X on Tuesday. “We’ll be traveling across the commonwealth throughout September and October, and we’re still building the journey.”
Current Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, last November defeated Earle-Sears, a Republican, in the race to succeed Republican Glenn Youngkin.
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which defined marriage in Virginia as between a man and a woman.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Youngkin a decade later signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Spanberger signed bills that finalized the marriage equality and reproductive rights referenda’s language.
The referenda will take place on Nov. 3.
Virginia
Doug Ollivant to face Eugene Vindman in Va. 7th Congressional District
Republican defeated challengers in Tuesday’s primary
Republican Doug Ollivant will face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
Ollivant defeated his Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Vindman ran unopposed.
Vindman in 2024 ran to succeed then-Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in the U.S. House of Representatives after she ran for governor. Spanberger succeeded Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2025.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday easily won his primary. All other Democratic incumbent members of Congress from Northern Virginia also won their respective primaries.
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