Word: cuccinelli
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...attorney general seems to have determined that his state’s legal policies are not controversial enough. How else to explain his decision to send a letter to Virginia universities and colleges instructing them to ban protections on gay rights? In the document, Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II advised that, “The law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ or like terms...
...Cuccinelli may indeed have had sound legal reasoning behind his move. According to him, the Virginia General Assembly has never given specific authorization for such discrimination protections, and in-state colleges and universities are overstepping their bounds by employing them. The attorney general cited the Virginia Human Rights Act, which singled out race, color, religion, national origin, and sex as affiliations deserving of special protections—but not sexual orientation. He also pointed out that the General Assembly has voted 25 times not to include “sexual orientation” in various nondiscrimination measures since...
However, this legal technicality is a small concern that Cuccinelli has pointed out in order to nullify more important protective measures. Article one, section one of the constitution of Virginia concerns the “equality and rights of man.” It states, “That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights.” This statute clearly allows for myriad protections against discrimination, and Virginia’s institutions of higher education have simply been upholding a similar standard of rights. It should be the focus...
Thousands organized on Facebook to discuss the rulings. One Facebook group, "We Don't Want Discrimination In Our State Universities and Colleges," has more than 5,000 members. Frequent message blasts urged people to phone Cuccinelli's office, send e-mails and write on his Facebook wall. "It's just a huge slap in the face to treat schools that poorly, and lesbians and gays in general," says Seth Kaye, a sophomore computer science major and president of the Queer and Allied Activism group at the University of Virginia. "We are being singled out. People are upset. It's really...
...interview with TIME, Cuccinelli says his letter was meant to "issue blanket advice" to high-level college administrators, something he felt was needed after he received several inquiries from schools. The letter reaffirmed that "Virginia's public universities are, at all times, subject to the control of the General Assembly," and because wording adopted by General Assembly policies do not specifically name "sexual orientation" as a class protected in non-discrimination, "any college or university that has done so has acted without proper authority...