Members of the Democratic House and Senate caucuses at Equality Virginia’s 2016 Day of Action and Legislative Reception – Photo: Equality Virginia, via Facebook.
Two pro-equality bills that passed the Virginia Senate with unanimous support from Democrats and one-third of the Republican Senate caucus have been assigned to a House subcommittee, likely the last step before both measures are inevitably defeated.
Both Sen. Adam Ebbin’s (D-Alexandria) bill to prohibit anti-LGBTQ discrimination in public employment, and Sen. Jennifer Wexton’s (D-Leesburg) bill to prohibit housing discrimination reach the subcommittee just as hundreds of LGBTQ advocates are descending on Richmond in order to lobby lawmakers to give the bills a chance as part of Equality Virginia’s Day of Action.
Held annually, the Day of Action seeks to empower LGBTQ advocates and allies by allowing them a chance to express their concerns to their elected officials during a morning session at the state Capitol. In the afternoon, Equality Virginia has eight different hour-long sessions to provide advice on current LGBTQ legal issues, ways to get engaged with activism, and how to organize on the grassroots level to affect change. The day wraps up with a reception in the evening.
Unfortunately for those lobbying legislators today, a number of pro-LGBTQ bills have already been killed — most of them in House subcommittees — earlier this session. Luckily, some of the more severe anti-LGBTQ bills, such as one that would have instituted a North Carolina-style bathroom law on the commonwealth, or one that would have permitted blatant discrimination by companies or organizations that contract with the state, have also been defeated.
Ebbin and Wexton’s bills are the last two chances for pro-LGBTQ legislation to pass this session. But both face a huge hurdle in the House because of the partisan makeup of subcommittees, which Republicans control by 5-2 margins, due to Democrats holding only 34 of 100 seats in the lower chamber.
Additionally, many of the subcommittees where LGBTQ-related bills would typically be assigned are often stacked with Republicans from districts or areas of the state where opposition to LGBTQ rights is strong. For instance, Republicans from Northern Virginia, more socially liberal parts of Hampton Roads, or those representing swing areas or college towns are almost never seated on committees dealing with LGBTQ rights. As a result, bills are killed in subcommittee, often by voice vote, which allows Republican lawmakers to avoid on-the-record floor votes. Because there is no record of a firm stance on a certain issue, lawmakers can appeal to conservative interest groups like the Family Foundation of Virginia while avoiding being tarred as anti-LGBTQ in the eyes of more socially liberal voters.
In the end, the fate of Ebbin and Wexton’s nondiscrimination bills will be considered by a small group of seven lawmakers, rather than the full 100-member House. Those lawmakers are: Delegates Keith Hodges (R-Urbanna), Tommy Wright (R-Victoria), Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach), Dickie Bell (R-Staunton), Jay Leftwich (R-Chesapeake), Delores McQuinn (D-Richmond City), and Lashrecse Aird (D-Petersburg).
Thanks to the Trump administration, policing gender is becoming the norm -- and it's about much more than trans women.
By Riki Wilchins
March 29, 2025
A Tucson Walmart called the police on a Black "stud"-identified lesbian last month, claiming a man had entered the women's room.
The two male Pima County sheriff's deputies accosted 19-year-old Kalaya Morton just after she had used a tampon and while she was in the stall still trying to pee.
They demanded that she come out immediately, which she was unable to do. Even after she finished her business and exited the stall, lifting her shirt to show the two men that she was a cisgender woman, one of the male deputies still complained that Kalaya "looked like a man."
Several corporate sponsors of San Francisco Pride, including beer giant Anheuser-Busch, have pulled their funding for the celebration's annual festivities.
Over the past four weeks, the companies have informed organizers of San Francisco Pride that they would not be able to support 2025 Pride, claiming a lack of funds as the reason.
None of the companies cited the political climate, but Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, said that it was "very abnormal" for several multi-year sponsors to drop their support.
"I just interpreted that companies are making decisions that at this time it’s not good to be sponsoring Pride," Ford told SFGATE magazine, alluding to decisions by several major corporations to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Jo Ellis, a transgender pilot in the Virginia Army National Guard, is suing a right-wing influencer Matthew Wallace for claiming she was flying the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines plane, causing a fatal crash that claimed the lives of all 67 people inside both aircraft.
Ellis claims Wallace, who has 2.3 million followers on X, exploited the January 29 tragedy for "clicks and money" and accuses Wallace of deliberately spreading information he knew to be false.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
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