Email Share 531 Shares

The Virginia Senate General Laws and Technology Committee on Monday approved a measure that would ban anti-LGBT discrimination against state and local government employees.

The 8-7 vote on Senate Bill 785 that state Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico County) introduced late last year came after the committee held a hearing on it.

“We are glad the committee voted in support of fairness and equality, and hope to see this bill pass out of the Senate as well,” said James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, a statewide LGBT advocacy group, in a statement. “As the majority of Fortune 500 corporations know, putting a policy in place to protect LGBT employees is not only the right thing to do, it also makes good business sense. It is time for Virginia to follow the lead of our business community by passing a law to protect LGBT public employees.”

SB 785 will now go before the full Senate.

The Senate General Laws and Technology Committee last January killed a similar bill that McEachin and gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced.

The Virginia Senate in 2013 approved a measure that would have banned anti-LGBT discrimination against state employees. A state House of Delegates subcommittee later tabled the proposal.

Marriage law bill advances; hate crimes reporting measure tabled

The Senate General Laws and Technology Committee on Monday by a 12-2 vote margin approved Ebbin’s bill that would amend Virginia’s marriage laws to include gender-neutral references in response to the legalization of gay nuptials in the commonwealth.

A House subcommittee on Monday also tabled a bill that would have required state police to report hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

State Del. Richard Sullivan, Jr., (D-Arlington County), who introduced the measure, on his Twitter page expressed his disappointment over the committee’s inaction.