Make sure to attend the anti-discrimination rally this Wednesday, sponsored by the Students for Possibilities Party. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to attend this event. Let's stand united and show VCU and Virginia's state government that we will not support policies and laws that violate human rights.
12pm-1pm, Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
VCU Commons Plaza (907 Floyd Avenue)
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=347726437231&ref=mf
Update: More than 1000 people showed up at Monroe Park campus to march to Capitol Hill, for a chance to speak with their local representative about anti-discrimination law. Apparently this demonstration, along with community forums and the multitude of individuals who contacted state and university leaders had the intended effect. Late this evening, according to VCU President Rao, and several news sources, Governor McDonnell released an executive directive:
“Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Therefore, discrimination against enumerated classes of persons set forth in the Virginia Human Rights Act or discrimination against any class of persons without a rational basis is prohibited.”
This comes after a house bill was defeated earlier this week, that would have included sexual orientation and gender identity as protected groups under state anti-discriminatory law. In the end, Virginia went two steps backwards, and one step forwards towards equal rights for all. It is up to Virginian voters to follow through with this human rights issue next year, when they will have a chance to voice their opinion to their local representatives to change the law in the next session of the General Assembly.
Courtesy Richmond Times-Dispatch
No comments:
Post a Comment