tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1294327491308524431.post491391272129390789..comments2023-11-20T10:16:28.772-05:00Comments on Choices Campus Blog: Okay to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity in VA universities?Feminist Majority Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11878103165344672083noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1294327491308524431.post-73616036848348933652010-03-12T15:23:04.411-05:002010-03-12T15:23:04.411-05:00Thanks for posting about this. I graduated from a ...Thanks for posting about this. I graduated from a Virginia school and have been curious to see how all this is going to play out. My first thought when I read AG Cuccinelli's letter was that I have no idea what the legal relationship is between the General Assembly and state universities. Cuccinelli made it sounds in his letter as though VA universities are an arm of the state. If the relationship is as strict as he made it seem, and the General Assembly explicitly refused to extend anti-discrimination protection to LGBT people, it seems as though he might actually have an argument here.<br /><br />Those were my first thoughts - but then I read this: http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/governor_overrides_cuccinelli_decision_uva._grateful_for_move_to_reinstate_/53427/<br /><br />Thankfully, Governor McDonnell put a stop to Cuccinelli. But more importantly, he made the legal point that LGBT people are protected by the Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. It seems to me as though if that is the case (which I clearly believe it is), then the VA General Assembly is violating the Constitution by refusing to explicitly grant anti-discrimination protection to LGBT individuals. In which case, Cuccinelli just got himself in a lot deeper than he intended to, I think.Bonniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11645955464064885848noreply@blogger.com