A Hollywood movie writer could not have written a better
script demonstrating the lack of respect members of the Republican Party in
Virginia have for difference and, by extension, the very principles which
underlie our country.
On Tuesday, the Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee,
House General Laws[1],
voted to ‘table’ Senate Bill 701[2],
primarily sponsored by Democrats in the Virginia Senate, Adam Ebbin and Donald
McEachin. SB 701 was passed last month in the split senate 24-16.
SB 701 would have prevented the government of Virginia from
discriminating against individuals based on their sexual orientation. Sounds
pretty straightforward, morally sound, and commonsensical, right? Welcome to
the twilight universe that is Virginia politics.
Being the cowards that they are, however, none of the subcommittee
members who voted against SB 701 will have an official record kept on how they
voted[3]
(voice votes are not kept on official record). Indeed, why would these tough
guys actually want to stand up for their beliefs?
I don’t like to name-call or to assign blame. Plenty of
people can do that for me. But when such a foundational principle that imbibes
our country is wiped under the rug, it kind of upsets me.
I can take solace in knowing that these individuals and
their beliefs are already dead even if their battered remains still inflict
mortal political wounds. Their beliefs are truly un-American and have no place
in a modern America, an America that values tolerance and shames ignorance.
What does it matter if this or that person wants to be gay? How
is it affecting anyone’s life in a real, physical, sense? It’s not, of course.
But for many Republicans in Virginia, dangers are always
lurking around the corner. Their politics, in other words, is driven by fear,
fears which, on the whole, have no basis in reality (for instance, the
government is coming to take my guns!!).
A politics driven by fear is a recipe for degradation as a
society and most Americans know it. That is why these conservatives will
ultimately lose the political battle. Their ideas, their beliefs, and
consequently, their fears, offer nothing but a intolerant and regressive
future. How many people truly want to vote for that?
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