McDonnell says he won’t renew ban on discrimination against gays
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell said Tuesday he would not renew an executive order by Virginia’s last two governors that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation for state job applicants.
“I think it would be illegal to carry it forward” if he is elected governor, McDonnell said in an interview Tuesday with The News & Advance’s editorial board.
Nevertheless, McDonnell said, “There will be no discrimination in the office of governor.” He said employees should be hired based solely on their competence and willingness to get positive results for Virginia.
His opposition to an executive order banning discrimination, issued by governors Mark Warner and Timothy M. Kaine, “was not a philosophical issue. That was a separation of powers issue,” McDonnell said.
His position against the order shouldn’t be connected to beliefs McDonnell expressed in his graduate-school thesis 20 years ago that criticized feminists and gays, he said.
McDonnell said he didn’t discriminate against gays when he hired people to work in the attorney general’s office.
“I know for a fact” that gay people worked there from 2006 until this year, he said, and “They did a great job. All I cared about” was whether they met his requirement for getting results for Virginia, he said.
McDonnell said during a debate Monday night with his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, that the executive order overstepped the governor’s authority.
McDonnell said he told Kaine, in an opinion in 2006, that the non-discrimination issues in employment were the General Assembly’s responsibility and not the governor’s.
Deeds has not taken a prominent role in the discrimination debate, although he cosponsored a bill in 2008 that would have prohibited discrimination based on several factors, one of which was sexual orientation. The bill never made it out of a House committee.
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Reader Reactions
Imprimis… I should’ve known you were a teetotaler. See, you just can’t get beyond that right-wing posture… Oh, well, in the absence of sharing a beer, I am always up for a greasy cheeseburger. My vices come in many forms.
Now as for that rapacious nature of yours… it fits right in with the big-business orientation of right-wingers. Whether ravaging the mind, body, spirit, or wallet, you guys just can’t help yourselves.
Yes, we on the left really do identify with righteousness and truth. We primarily feel sympathy for the other side when they claim to own those concepts. Come over to our side, we will be happy to help guide you back onto the right (left) path.
And it just clicked what you meant by “sick puppy”. My comment below had NONE of the implications that I just realized you had attached to it. It was in the context of playground bullying, and getting hurt by the bully, not what I suspect you had in mind ....
As for that drink, I’ve NEVER liked the taste of ethanol. Sort of like gasoline to me. Food is my particular poison.
Isn’t it great to know what “righteousness” and “truth” really is? I hear that all the time .... from “the other side”, at which time those become attack words ....
But you really do believe it. You really do believe that you know “The Truth” by which not only you, but I must be governed, if only you can find a way to force it on me. Should sound familiar ...
Imprimis… *lol* Man, you’re a sick puppy. If you weren’t so darned conservative, we could be drinking buddies.
I can only hope that a good liberal is not rethinking their position. If you have bullied them into such vile thoughts, I shall have to rethink my position here on negotiating a truce.
However, if you care to rethink YOUR cherished beliefs and decide to come over to the side of righteousness and truth, we’d be proud to have you.
greywolf - Now I’m whacking myself over the head for not seeing it sooner ... “power imbalance” - no “guy” is thinking that way, or expressing themselves that way.
Now I DO got it. However, I don’t see how, if I am to positively and aggressively present my positions, I am to avoid the appearance of “bullying” in future.
On the other hand, have you thought about the fact that someone here may actually have seen the inconsistency in their OWN cherished beliefs, and is struggling with changing those beliefs, or at least re-examining them in the light of actual discussion and mature reflection?
Change can be extremely difficult to handle, and it MAY express itself in “Get off me! You’re hurting me!“
It’s happened to me before, I can tell you that.
Gentlemen, if I may venture an attempt at negotiating a truce here…. (BTW, I have no idea if either of you are male or female, so my gendered remarks are assumed)
P2D… I expect that I am every bit as liberal as you if not more to the left and, therefore, invite the wrath of all conservative bloggers. I must say, of all those conservatives who pounce upon my left-wing politics, Imprimis is probably the least nasty… In fact, I enjoy the debates that we have primarily because he is intelligent, articulate, and civil… despite his political orientation… but no one is perfect.
Imprimis… I only show up on these boards once in a while (depending on how much time I have to kill), but P2D appears to be a nice guy, too. And the fact that he is a card-carrying liberal is a nice bonus.
P2D, I’d be willing to bet that Imprimis intended no bullying.
Imprimis, P2D may have misinterpreted your comments, but especially in cyberspace, where we have no body language or voice tone cues, a perceived slight can be just as hurtful as an intended one.
Can you two just agree to disagree? Or, if you’d both care to tell me to stick it, I’m okay with that, too… 
“Power imbalance?“
How did I GET this mysterious power, then? Sounds vaguely Oriental. And how did it get out of balance?
Imprimis, a last note. You are dead wrong about bullying. Bullying can be accomplished in any environment, or at least an attempt at bullying can. Its not about who is larger and more powerful. It can where one takes advantage of a “power imbalance” to intimidate or bludgeon another into submission. That can and does happen in person, on the phone, in writing, and, yes, on comment sections.
There are many attempts (and some successes) at bullying in this comment section.
Hey P2D… No problem. I’m accustomed to being accosted from the right, so I’ve developed plenty of scar tissue.
Greywolf…my bad. I was talking to Imprimis…forgot the name. Hope you get this very late post.
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