Abigail Spanberger for Governor YouTube screenshot
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for Virginia governor, has released a new ad attacking her Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, for claiming during a recent debate that firing someone for being gay — or for opposing same-sex marriage — does not amount to “discrimination.”
Titled “That’s Not Discrimination,” the ad focuses on Earle-Sears’ long record of opposing LGBTQ rights throughout her two-decade political career.
It mixes clips from Earle-Sears’ contentious debate with Spanberger at Norfolk State University with a news report about how Earle-Sears penned a handwritten note on a bill she was required to sign — a procedural duty of her role as Virginia’s lieutenant governor and presiding officer of the Senate — expressing her moral opposition to same-sex marriage.
A narrator asserts that “what [Earle-Sears] says about discrimination is extreme” — an appeal aimed at persuading liberals and moderates who may have soured on Democrats that Earle-Sears’ brand of social conservatism is out of step with most Virginians.
The ad includes debate clips of Spanberger pressing Earle-Sears over her opposition to same-sex marriage — prompting the Republican to interject, “That’s not discrimination!” — and over her defense of firing employees based on sexual orientation, to which Earle-Sears repeated, “That’s not discrimination.”
The voiceover responds, “Yes, Lieutenant Governor. It is. And what you said about rights couldn’t be more wrong. Winsome Earle-Sears: So far right, she’s wrong for Virginia.”
As recently as May, Earle-Sears reaffirmed her opposition to marriage equality, saying she would support only civil unions for same-sex couples.
According to the Virginia Mercury, a recently unearthed candidate survey from Earle-Sears’ unsuccessful 2004 congressional campaign shows she described homosexuality as an “immoral lifestyle choice,” pledged to support bans on same-sex adoption, and vowed to oppose any law guaranteeing workplace protections for LGBTQ people.
That same year, Earle-Sears wrote an op-ed for the Daily Press of Newport News attacking U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) for opposing the Defense of Marriage Act and voting for a 1996 bill that would have recognized same-sex marriages performed legally in other states. She lamented that “society has gone immeasurably beyond almost all standards in accommodating the homosexual community over the last couple of decades.”
While Earle-Sears didn’t specify what those “accommodations” were, critics have cited the growing visibility of the LGBTQ community, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 decision striking down state sodomy laws, and the pending legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts as likely triggers for her claim.
Chaz Nuttycombe, executive director of State Navigate and a Virginia native, called Earle-Sears’ debate remarks a “misstep” but withheld judgment on whether Spanberger’s ad would persuade any new voters to back her.
“We’ll see if it moves more college-educated moderates/independents or not into her column,” Nuttycombe wrote on X.
Earle-Sears has centered much of her campaign on transgender issues, seeking to tie Spanberger to unpopular positions on transgender athletes and access to gender-affirming facilities.
But as transgender journalist Erin Reed observes, the focus on transgender issues hasn’t gained much traction — at least not yet. A September 28-29 poll by Emerson College Polling and The Hill found that most Virginians considered transgender issues “not too important” or “not at all important” in the governor’s race.
Notably, Democrats were the group most likely to rate the issue as “very” or “somewhat” important — suggesting that many who see it as important are likely supportive of transgender rights.
Likewise, a Wason Center poll from Christopher Newport University, conducted September 29 to October 1, found that Virginia voters preferred former U.S. Rep. Spanberger over Earle-Sears on a range of issues — giving her a 13-point advantage on handling transgender issues.
Justice Department had demanded Boston Children's Hospital hand over patients' and employees' personal information under the guise of combating medical "fraud."
A federal judge has quashed a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice demanding that Boston Children’s Hospital turn over private medical information on youth receiving gender-affirming care, blasting the request as a “fishing expedition” aimed at prosecuting doctors under the guise of investigating health care fraud.
In his ruling, Judge Myong Joun, a Biden appointee, said the Justice Department sought an “astonishingly broad array of documents and information that are virtually unlimited in scope,” including patients’ Social Security numbers, home addresses, and personal details, as well as the complete personnel files of all 2,000 Boston Children’s Hospital employees, regardless of whether they had any involvement in providing gender-affirming care to minors.
Boston police are investigating a possible hate crime after a gay couple was attacked while walking in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood on September 13, leaving one man with a head injury.
According to a police report, the couple had been heading to a convenience store on River Street just before 8 p.m. when a group of men began hurling anti-gay remarks at them.
One of the men confronted the group, sparking a "verbal dispute" that escalated into a physical attack on the couple, according to Boston.com.
The Turning Point USA co-founder, who once declared Pride a “sin” and opposed LGBTQ rights, was killed during a campus event at Utah Valley University.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by an assassin's bullet during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
The 31-year-old was the co-founder of Turning Point USA, an organization advocating for conservative politics and education on high school and college campuses.
At the time of the shooting, Kirk, who appeared on campus as part of his "American Comeback Tour," was taking questions from people in the crowd while seated at a "Prove Me Wrong" table in the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus, according to The Associated Press.
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