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Va. House approves Ebbin resolution to repeal marriage amendment

Proposal passed with Republican support

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The Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday approved gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria)’s resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The resolution passed by a 58-33 vote margin. State Del. Chris Obenshain (R-Montgomery County) is among the Republicans who supported it.

“Glad to report that SJ 249, my constitutional amendment to protect marriage equality, has passed the House of Delegates with bipartisan support,” said Ebbin after the vote.

The House last month approved a similar resolution that gay state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) introduced.

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 last 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.

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Pride Liberation Project announces additional Va. school board protests

Student-led group challenging Trump-Vance administrationā€™s anti-LGBTQ policies

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LGBTQ students demonstrate at Luther Jackson Middle School in Falls Church, Va., in June 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Following their recent protests at school board meetings in Virginia to challenge the Trump-Vance administrationā€™s anti-LGBTQ policies, a student-led rights group on Wednesday outlined plans to continue their actions.

The Pride Liberation Project released a statement in early March announcing their ā€œMarch Month of Actionā€ after their first round of protests. The Pride Liberation Project on Wednesday issued another press release that provided additional details.

ā€œQueer students will rally at local school board meetings across Virginia, as they call for education leaders to reject the Trump-Muskā€™s administration escalating attacks against queer people.ā€ said Conifer Selintung on behalf of the Pride Liberation Project. ā€œSince taking office, the Trump-Musk administration has ignored the real issues facing our schools ā€” like declining reading scores and the mental health crisis ā€” and tried to bully queer students into the closet. Alongside other hateful attacks, theyā€™ve attacked nondiscrimination protections, banned gender-affirming care, and whitewashed history.ā€

The Pride Liberation Project press release also included a statement from Moth, an LGBTQ student at McLean High School.

ā€œI want to be able to go to school as myself, just like any other student,ā€ said Moth. ā€œTo do that, I need my school board to stand up to bullies.ā€

The Pride Liberation Project has also released a schedule of rallies it plans to hold this month.

The first rally took place at the Prince William County School Board meeting in Manassas on Wednesday. A second event took place at the Roanoke County School Board meeting on Thursday.

Additional rallies are scheduled to take place in Rockingham and York Counties on March 24, Loudoun County on March 25, and Fairfax County on March 27.

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Va. county board of supervisors votes to defund library

Samuels Public Library faced calls to remove LGBTQ-themed books

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The Warren County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 4-1 in favor of defunding the Samuels Public Library in Front Royal after some residents complained about certain books in the library.

ā€œThe library is a nonprofit overseen by a board of trustees, but it counts on the county for about 70 percent of its operating budget.ā€ NBC Washington reported. ā€œThe board has been trying to gain more control over the library after some residents complained about certain books in the collection.ā€

The Winchester Star in 2023 reported a wide-array of books with queer themes have been targeted by those who wish to remove stories about LGBTQ families and people. They have sought to ban children who frequent the library, which is more than 200 years old, from reading them.

Some of the books targeted were ā€œOver the Shopā€ by JonArno Lawson, ā€œPride Colorsā€ by Robin Stevenson, ā€œMama and Mommy and Me in the Middleā€ by Nina LaCour, ā€œPlenty of Hugsā€ by Fran Manushkin, ā€œI Love You Because I Love You,ā€ by Muon Thi Van, and ā€œBathe the Catā€ by Alice B. McGinty. 

ā€œSamuels Public Library serves more than 41,000 people in the County of Warren.ā€ according to the libraryā€™s website. ā€œIn the last fiscal year, the Library had more than 127,000 visitors, over 400,000 checkouts, and hosted 542 programs that saw 19,194 attendees.ā€

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Pride Liberation Project to protest school board meetings across Va.

Student-led group to highlight White Houseā€™s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, policies

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Members of the Pride Liberation Project hold signs supporting transgender rights during a Loudoun County School Board meeting on Aug. 19, 2022. The group has announced it will protest school board meetings across Virginia in response to the Trump-Vance administration's anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Virginiaā€™s largest student-led LGBTQ rights group on Monday announced it will protest school board meetings across the state in response to the rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from the Trump-Vance administration 

ā€œSince taking office, the Trump-Musk administration has unleashed a barrage of attacks against LGBTQIA+ students,ā€ said Conifer Selintung of the Pride Liberation Project in a statement. ā€œThey have attacked discrimination protections in Title IX, targeted transgender athletes, attempted to strip funding for life-saving gender affirming care, and tried to whitewash history. The Trump-Musk administrationā€™s obsession with queer young people is already impacting our lives. Defying medical consensus, multiple hospitals suspended gender affirming care last month.ā€

The Pride Liberation Project press release included statements from students across Virginia.

ā€œThese executive orders are attacking our communities instead of focusing on the real issues in our schools,ā€ said Red Oā€™Brien, a Virginia Beach junior who is planning to rally at their school board meeting.

ā€œIā€™m an adultā€“itā€™s crazy and invasive that legislators can stop me from getting lifesaving healthcare,ā€ said Everest Clauberg, a Virginia Commonwealth University student who receives gender-affirming care from VCU Endocrinology.

VCU Childrenā€™s Hospital of Richmond on Feb. 25 announced it would resume gender-affirming care for existing patients as deemed appropriate.

The Pride Liberation Project in recent years has organized more than 90 student-led protests across Virginia.

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