Virginia

Elected officials turn out for annual Equality NoVa Ice Cream Social

Northern Virginia LGBTQ group stresses ‘political awareness, education’

Published

1 year ago

October 2, 2023

Freddie Lutz, on right, and his husband Johnny Cervantes host the annual ice cream social. (Photo courtesy of Lutz)

Four LGBTQ supportive members of the Virginia General Assembly and two candidates running for seats on the Arlington County Board were among more than 100 people who turned out on Sunday, Sept. 24, for the LGBTQ organization Equality NoVa’s annual Ice Cream Social.

The event was held at the Arlington, Va. home of Freddie Lutz, owner of the Arlington gay bar and restaurant Freddie’s Beach Bar, and Lutz’s husband, Johnny Cervantes.

Daniel Hays, president of Equality NoVa, told those attending the event in introductory remarks that Equality NoVa, which recently changed its name from the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance (AGLA), was founded in 1981 and is the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ organization in Virginia.

In an announcement in April the group said the name change came after it had taken on for some time the activities and representation of the now-defunct LGBTQ groups in Alexandria and Fairfax counties and had expanded its operations to cover most if not all the regions known as Northern Virginia.

Hays noted that the group is a nonpartisan organization that doesn’t endorse candidates for public office but organizes educational and political awareness events and awareness campaigns on issues impacting LGBTQ people related to statewide and local government agencies and officials.

The elected officials attending the event were Virginia House of Delegates members Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria & Fairfax), Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria & Arlington), and Vivian Watts (D-Fairfax).

Also attending was Virginia State Sen. Barbara Favola, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun Counties.

Joining the state lawmakers attending the Equality NoVa social were Arlington County Board candidates Maureen Coffey and Susan Cunningham and Arlington County School Board candidate Miranda Turner.

Many of those attending the event said they were rooting for the re-election of Herring, Bennett-Parker, Watts, and Favola in the upcoming Virginia elections in November. All members and candidates for the General Assembly will be on the ballot in an election that political observers say could decide which party controls both houses of the state legislature.

Currently, Democrats control the 40-member Virginia Senate by a margin of 22-18 seats. Republicans currently control the House of Delegates by a margin of 51 to 46 seats, with three vacancies in the 100-member House.

With Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) putting in place through executive action public school policies that LGBTQ activists consider hostile and discriminatory for transgender students, LGBTQ activists are hopeful that a Democratic takeover of the House of Delegates would result in a reversal of Youngkin’s school policy.

Some of the activists attending the Equality NoVa event said they were fearful that a Republican takeover of the state Senate and if Republicans retain control of the House of Delegates could result in the General Assembly approving the type of anti-LGBTQ legislation passed in Florida and other states.

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Virginia

Va. Attorney General Jason Miyares to seek reelection

Republican challenged new Title IX rules for LGBTQ students

Published

2 weeks ago

November 19, 2024

Staff reports

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (Screen capture via Jason Miyares for Virginia/YouTube)

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Monday announced he will run for reelection.

Miyares, a Republican who was in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2016-2022, in 2021 defeated then-Attorney General Mark Herring.

Miyares in a 2023 letter to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said school districts must adhere to the state’s new guidelines for transgender and nonbinary students that activists say could potentially out them. Miyares also joined other state attorneys general who challenged the Biden-Harris administration’s Title IX rules that specifically protect LGBTQ students from discrimination based on their gender identity and sexual orientation.

Youngkin under the state constitution cannot run for a second consecutive term as governor.

Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who also opposes LGBTQ rights, in September announced she is running to succeed Youngkin in 2025. Earle-Sears will likely face outgoing Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in next year’s general election.

Virginia

Va. House committee approves resolution to repeal marriage amendment

Two successive legislatures must approve proposal before it goes to voters

Published

3 weeks ago

November 13, 2024

Staff reports

(Bigstock photo)

A Virginia House of Delegates committee on Wednesday approved a resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The Privileges and Elections Committee by a 16-5 vote margin approved state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County)’s resolution that he introduced earlier this year. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) sponsored an identical resolution in the Virginia Senate.

Ebbin and Sickles are gay.

Voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2006.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin earlier this year signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.

The General Assembly in 2021 approved a resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment. It must pass in two successive legislatures before it can go to the ballot.

“Virginia is for lovers,” said the Virginia House Democratic Caucus on X after Wednesday’s vote. “Today, we advanced a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. It’s time our laws reflect our values of equality, inclusion, and dignity for all.”

The committee on Wednesday also approved resolutions that would enshrine reproductive rights and restore formerly incarcerated people’s right to vote in the state constitution.

Virginia

Va. teacher fired for refusing to use student’s preferred pronouns reaches $575K settlement

State Supreme Court ruled in Peter Vlaming’s favor

Published

2 months ago

October 17, 2024

Erkki Forster

(Bigstock photo)

A Virginia teacher who was fired for refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns has reached a settlement with the West Point School Board, securing $575,000 in damages and legal fees.

The school board agreed to settle Peter Vlaming’s wrongful termination lawsuit after the Virginia Supreme Court ruled last December it had violated Vlaming’s rights.

In 2018, the school board fired the former French teacher for violating school board policies that prohibit discrimination and harassment based on gender identity.

Vlaming had refused to use male pronouns when referring to a trans student in his class.

Following his dismissal, he sued the school board, claiming that the request to use the student’s preferred pronouns violated his conscience and went against his religious and philosophical convictions.

The King William County Circuit Court first dismissed Vlaming’s case, but the Virginia Supreme Court later reinstated it and ruled in Vlaming’s favor.

“I’m very grateful for the work of my attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom to bring my case to victory, and hope it helps protect every other teacher and professor’s fundamental First Amendment rights,” Vlaming said in a statement through Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative, anti-LGBTQ Christian legal organization that represents him.

The West Point School Board has since revised its policies to comply with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s overhaul of model policies for trans and nonbinary students.

The new policies, which went into effect in July 2023, mandate that schools use students’ names and pronouns based on the sex listed in their official records. Staff are prohibited from using a different name or pronoun unless parents provide written consent, and students are required to use bathrooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth.