“This is the Republican establishment that can’t take a message,” Del. Bob Marshall,R-Prince William, sputtered this week. An expression of remorse from the delegate who blocked the election of a Richmond prosecutor to a judgeship because he has the mettle to support gay rights?

No, Marshall was reacting in The Washington Post to a letter by leaders of Richmond’s top law firms backing Tracy Thorne-Begland for an interim bench appointment.

Marshall decried the letter as “unbelievable arrogance,” an ironic statement given the fact that Marshall spiked Thorne-Begland’s election with a late-night vote when 36 out of 100delegates were absent.

The arguments for repealing the Defense of Marriage Act cut across ideological lines.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston last week struck down a core provision of the Defense of Marriage Act. The Constitution does not permit the federal government to deny same-sex married couples benefits and responsibilities enjoyed by opposite-sex married couples, the court ruled. The Supreme Court likely will take up the question next, and justices should not only uphold the lower court’s decision but also extend it.

Both liberals and conservatives should find at least some of the court’s reasoning appealing.

Read more.

Virginians don’t have to look far for reminders that discrimination still exists.

A New York appeals court is the latest to rule that accusing someone of being gay isn’t slander.

It’s a notable sign of progress, but one tempered by the reality that such lawsuits, while rare, are being filed at all. In this case, a woman was sued for spreading a rumor that a man was gay in order to break up his heterosexual relationship.

Continue reading this editorial.

The print edition of The Roanoke Times this morning included a short blurb, part of an AP story, about a same-sex wedding soon to appear in Marvel comics. Mutant Northstar, who was outed as gay in 1992, will marry his boyfriend in “Astonishing X-Men” No. 51, due out next month.  The proposal occurs in the issue out today. His fiance, Kyle Jinadu, is non-mutant and black, which will make it a interspecies, interracial, gay wedding spectacular. (Read more from Marvel.)

These sorts of things are usually plotted out months in advance by writers and comic book publishers.  Still, one cannot help but notice the serendipity with President Obama’s recent announcement that he now supports same-sex marriage.

While this is the first gay wedding for Marvel, it is not the first gay wedding in comics. Most news stories point to the wedding between the Midnighter and Apollo of “The Authority” back in 2002. They are, in my opinion, a much more interesting couple. Can anyone remember an earlier one?

The Virginia House of Delegates’ rejection of judicial nominee Tracy Thorne-Begland this week has sparked discussions on the RT and around the commonwealth.  Republican social conservatives once again affirmed bigotry in Virginia by refusing to confirm Thorne-Begland  him because he is gay.

Some people refuse to accept that.  They claim Thorne-Begland’s sexuality had nothing or little to do with it.  They demand proof that anti-gay bigotry was truly at the heart of this embarrassing incident.  In the face of multiple news reports confirming it, they invoke the La defense.  That’s the one where you stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and yell, “La La La, I can’t hear you.”

Here is video of the floor debate in which Thorne-Begland’s sexuality is at the heart of every point raised by conservatives. Somehow I fear it will not convince some people.

In the wee hours of the morning, homophobia prevailed in the House of Delegates.

All humans have biases. We are unique individuals, shaped by our DNA and our upbringing. No two people walk the same path through life, and every decision and experience influences how we act in the future.

For some people, one belief becomes all-consuming. It shapes every decision. They become incapable of parsing the world through any lens but that one.

Continue reading this editorial.

Last night, the Virginia House of Delegates debated past midnight whether to appoint a gay man to be a judge.  They finally voted after 1 a.m., and rejected the nomination of prosecutor Tracey Thorne-Begland to General District Court judge in Richmond.  We’ll have an editorial on that tomorrow, but in the meantime you can read the comments of Sen. Brian McEachin below, which pretty well sum things up.

But first, here’s an inaction shot featuring two of our local delegates courtesy of Richmond Times-Dispatch photographer Bob Brown, by way of the Associated Press.

(AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bob Brown)

In the front, looking like he is dozing off, is Del. Nick Rush, R-Christiansburg.  The one face-palming in the back is Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke.  (The bored-looking one in the middle is Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Bristol.)

The vote on the gay judge went 33-31 with 10 abstentions and 26 lawmakers not voting. It needed 51 votes to pass.  Rush abstained.  Ware did not vote.

When they and anyone else who did not vote last night seek re-election, I hope voters remember. They either refused to go on the record or lacked the stamina to fulfill their duty. Neither is acceptable.

(Update: 12:03)

Click here for a pdf of the vote tally. Locally:

Yea: Joe Yost, R-Blacksburg

Nay: Charles Poindexter, R-Glade Hill

Abstention: Anne Crockett-Stark, R-Wytheville; Lacey Putney, I-Bedford; Nick Rush, R-Christiansburg

Not voting: Greg Habeeb, R-Salem; Chris Head, R-Roanoke; Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke

(end update)

–

Statement by Senator Donald McEachin on GA’s Failure to Appoint Tracy Thorne-Begland

RICHMOND, VA – Today, Senator Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) made the following statement on the General Assembly’s failure to appoint Tracy Thorne-Begland to the Richmond District Court.

“Tracy Thorne-Begland is a highly qualified and exceptionally competent prosecutor, who also served our country with honor as a Navy pilot. The blatant prejudice that Republicans displayed last night should have no place in our government. The GOP took Virginia back to the bigotry and mean-spirited prejudice of the 1960s. I thought we had made more progress toward a just society than this.

“The only criteria legislators should apply when selecting judges are that person’s ability to fairly and impartially weigh the law. Mr. Thorne-Begland’s qualifications for appointment to the bench were unimpeachable, but Republicans cynically voted against his appointment just because he was gay,” said Senator McEachin.

Leave it to  religious conservatives to get wound up over a video game that will, brace yourself, include same-sex relationships.

Back in December, Bioware, a video game maker, released Star Wars: The Old Republic, a multiplayer online role playing game.  Think World of Warcraft but set in the Star Wars universe, you know, with Jedi, wookies and such.

Bioware, for more than a decade, has made some of the most critically acclaimed and memorable (“Go for the eyes, Boo!“) computer role playing games and characters. The best of them surpass mere game to become interactive novel.

One of the features in many of those games is that computer-controlled companions with their own personalities join the player on his virtual adventures. And in many of the games, the player character can develop relationships with companions, including romantic ones.

Those romantic relationships carried over to The Old Republic, but the release version allows only  heterosexual relationships.  This being a galaxy full of aliens, some of those were cross-species, but always one man and one woman.

Players complained.  A lot.  And Bioware took the hint.  The company announced  a while back that an update to the game would add same-sex romantic possibilities.  Players could then choose their character’s sexuality, just as they choose to be human or alien, what skills they will have and more.

Outrage followed from religious group, and the topic has trended upward for a week or so.

Tony Perkins of the inappropriately named Family Research Center warned, “In a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists! …  In a galaxy not so far far away, Star Wars gamers have already gone to the dark side.”

OK, never mind that he doesn’t seem to get that the Sith Empire are the bad guys, so anything that threatens the Empire must be good, right?

The Florida Family Association, meanwhile, worries there will be a Darth VaPaula (Vader + RuPaul, get it?  Just look at the picture they posted, which I’ve included above.)

This isn’t even the first Bioware game that will allow same-sex relationships. It’s just gotten the most attention.

The Old Republic  is a game with all sorts of complex issues in it.  There are war and death and moral decisions to make. So what if some gamers  choose to role play as lesbian or gay in the virtual world?

Besides, did these religious groups think the Star Wars universe was for straights only?  Come on. C-3P0?  Jar Jar Binks? Even Lando Calrissian always struck me as a bit of a player.

So, yes, there will be lesbians and gay people in same-sex relationships a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. You know, just like the real world.

Not all find pageant groovy

By Jeff Miller

Miller lives in Roanoke. He is a marketing manager and public relations practitioner.

Glenvar High School has been hosting a pageant for 40 years now in which teenage boys dress up as women and compete for the title of “Miss Groovy Teen.” This year’s pageant was held March 2. Apparently, it is a fund-raiser for the prom.

Read more.