Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's statement that Virginia's public colleges and universities do not have the authority to expand their non-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation was answered by organized action and media attention last week.
Cuccinelli sent a letter March 4 to the heads of Virginia's public colleges and universities advising them to prohibit the inclusion of "sexual orientation," "gender identity," "gender expression" and similar terms from their nondiscrimination policies without authorization from the General Assembly. Though state universities have many implied powers, Cuccinelli said, they remain under the broader authority of the General Assembly.
Many University students, faculty and administrators who expressed outrage at the statement have e-mailed their local delegates, senators and representatives and have encouraged others to do the same.
"Most people were very disgusted [when they heard]," Assoc. Engineering Prof. Ellen Bass said. "Several people told me that they thought there was no purpose to his letter. There wasn't one person that I spoke to who could think of any good that could come out of it."
Cuccinelli's letter sparked considerable controversy and even gained national attention. In response, Gov. Bob McDonnell issued an executive directive March 10 that prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, stating that such discrimination violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Last month, McDonnell issued an executive order that took sexual orientation out of the list of protected classifications. The order prohibits discrimination "on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities," but does not protect gays and lesbians. Some activists on Grounds disagreed with McDonnell's decision to issue the executive order. Queer & Allied Activism President Seth Kaye called the governor's recent directive useless.
"A directive is not a legal entity," Kaye said. "In terms of laws, we are no better off than we were before ... We still have zero protection."
Bass agreed that Virginia's legislators have not been moving forward on the issue.
"Non-discrimination based on sexual orientation shouldn't be at the whim of whoever is our governor," Bass said. "We went from having an executive order to an executive directive. We moved in a negative direction. We shouldn't be backpedaling; we should be moving forward."
Although the state government has yet to give legal protection to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, Cuccinelli's letter and McDonnell's directives have spurred discussion and brought attention to Virginia's nondiscrimination policies.
"People who hadn't thought about the issue at all are now motivated to talk to their delegates," Bass said. "Obviously, the people who did know about it are a lot more energized."\nKaye also viewed the overall debate in a positive light.
"If anything, we've organized pretty well," he said, "I've met and talked with a lot of people from other schools and activist organizations. It's brought us closer."
Officials may have expected the letter to "fly under the radar," he said, because many students were on break last week. Instead, students took action online. The Queer & Allied Activism Web site has compiled an updated list of news reports, and a Facebook group called "UVA says "NO to Ken Cuccinelli's Discriminatory Letter" now has more than 2,000 members.
Kaye said students, faculty and administrators are organizing a forum to further discuss the University's policy of non-discrimination.
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