Came across a newscast on CBS6, and one on WSLS10, with Cuccinelli's explanation of his letter sent to state universities. He states that he was just giving legal advice to several clients, who then chose to share this information. Who were your clients? And what explanation did they give for wanting to share this "information/advice" with every single state university? I'm sorry, Mr. Cuccinelli, I don't buy it. The letter sounds suspiciously like you are pressuring Virginian universities to remove anti-discrimination policies. Using scare tactics to make universities think that by enforcing anti-discrimination policies they could be inviting lawsuits is a low blow. You state that you don't have the power to change the law to protect the gay community. Well, I'm calling your bluff. I don't think you have the power to force state universities to comply with your request.
And since when do universities need "specific authorization from the general assembly" to change any one of it's policies? I don't think cheating on tests is illegal in the state of Virginia, do we need special permission to put this in university policy? Why now, and why comment on this specific issue? Your letter may be carefully worded to try to protect your back, but we all can read between the lines, and can see that you have more than "advice giving" in mind. You say that "changing public policy of the Commonwealth is within in the purview of the of the General Assembly and therefore...is unconstitutional". Well I say that any anti-discriminatory law that the General Assembly upholds that does not include the gay community as a protected group is unconstitutional! The universities of Virginia are just trying to do you a favor, by correcting this major oversight on the part of the General Assembly.
Legislators of Virginia: you can't have it both ways. You can't say that including the gay community as a protected group under anti-discrimination law is unnecessary in this day and age, and then turn around and demonstrate the opposite by your actions. If unnecessary, why all the effort towards defeating bills that ban discrimination against the gay community? Why would the Attorney General, and his unknown backers, take the time to draft a letter trying to undermine gay rights and send it to all state universities? I leave these questions in your hands, intelligent readers, and hope you will come to your own conclusions as you read Cuccinelli's letter, and when you attend one of the public forums tomorrow, the rally on Wednesday, or when you email or phone a university or state official.
5 ways to make a difference right now
1) Contact the governor this Monday & Tuesday (3/8 & 3/9) and press him to act on bill SB66 before Tuesday, after which it can't be revised for this General Assembly session. A link to the bill itself is at the bottom of this page.
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Contact.cfm
2) Find your legislative reps on the "Legislator Finder" and contact them Monday and Tuesday, pressing them to revive the bill (which already passed in the Senate) before the Tuesday deadline.
http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform
3) Sign the Equality Virginia petition.
http://www.petitiononline.com/orderno6/petition.html
4) Email VCU's President Rao and other Va. college & university presidents and ask that they and their Boards of Visitor uphold their university's policies.
http://www.president.vcu.edu/
5) Voice your opinion to Attorney General Cuccinelli.
http://www.oag.state.va.us/
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Bill SB66, passed by the Senate, tabled by a subcommitte, and eligible for revival, with a Tuesday 3/9 deadline:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=101&typ=bil&val=sb66&Submit2=Go
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