Brody's Notes... Virginia University Students To Governor- "We've Just BegunTo Fight!"

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Mar 15 | University students in the Commonwealth of Virginia this past week were on spring break like many of their peers across the United States, with the notable exception of students enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, the state capital. It was that student body that was galvanised into action when word spread that Virginia's Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, had sent a letter to universities across the state directing them to remove protection from discriminatory policies for LGBT people. Launching a protest effort by Facebook, text messages, and Twitter, students at VCU took their anger from their campus, marching the few blocks away to the State Capital Building complex.

VA Gov. Bob McDonnell  Photo By Bob Brown  Richmond Times-Dispatch

Anger spread via the traditional media & internet to other Virginia universities and community colleges statewide and by the end of the week Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell was forced to release a 'Directive' that specified that there was to be no discrimination. According to legal experts, that fell far short of being effective, as unlike an Executive Order, a Directive does not carry legal weight for enforcement purposes. In an impromptu press briefing, the Governor then reiterated his campaign platform which effectively stated the same material from the Directive. He called for Virginia's General Assembly to pass a measure that would provide protection for LGBT individuals in the State.

In an article by Richmond Times-Dispatch political writer Jim Nolan last Thursday, he reported that state Senator Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, had urged Gov. Bob McDonnell to "go the last mile of the way" and send the General Assembly a bill that codifies sexual orientation as part of the state's anti-discrimination policy.

"It's time to go the last mile of the way, governor," McEachin, a lawyer and ordained minister, told colleagues on the floor of the Senate at the close of the proceedings.  Our children are calling us. History is calling us." 

McEachin said as he recounted the events of the past week, during which opposition at Virginia's colleges and universities coalesced in protests by more than a thousand students and faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Senate Bill 66, introduced by McEachin, attempted to codify gays as a protected class in state hiring and employment, but was dumped by a House of Delegates committee. At the close of the current session of the assembly, this bill and another similar measure had failed.
Over the weekend, student leaders at William & Mary college in Williamsburg released this video on YouTube which has now gone viral: