WTF Virginia?

[cyranothe2nd]

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says Virginia's colleges and universities cannot prohibit discrimination against gays because the General Assembly has not authorized them to do so.

In a letter Thursday to the presidents, rectors and boards of visitors of Virginia public colleges, Cuccinelli said: the law and public policy of Virginia "prohibit a

Comments

[vonheston]

Well, Liberty is a private college, so it's not really relevant to them anyway.

The problem is not that schools can't add them as a protected class - that part makes sense to me, because secular state schools should follow secular state laws and not try to circumvent or rewrite them. (that opens up too much possibility for abuse) The problem imo is that they aren't a protected class to begin with. Sexual orientation should definitely be a protected class.

VA has some of the best public universities in the country, which is actually why I moved to this state, and I can't imagine that the majority of the top-tier schools will discriminate anyway...VA is legislatively backwards on LGBT issues, but socially (in the cities/college areas, at least) pretty liberal about them. But still, it's a principle thing.

[cyranothe2nd]

"The problem is not that schools can't add them as a protected class - that part makes sense to me, because secular state schools should follow secular state laws and not try to circumvent or rewrite them."

Actually, schools can and do make admissions and non-discrimination policies that are stricter than state laws. My state's colleges do it, even though we don't have a gay anti-discrimination law. I think most secular colleges do it, as well as many businesses. It's not a matter of circumventing the law but of deciding that your institution will be held to a higher standard than whatever the law allows it to get away with.

But I agree with you; there ought to be a federal anti-discrimination policy for LGBT.