RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia Senate committee on Monday tabled a bill that would have banned discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The General Laws and Technology Committee voted 7-7 to table the measure, reported GayRVA.com. Race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, age, childbirth conditions and disability would also have been protected under the bill.
Despite the bill’s postponement, LGBT state employees are currently protected from discrimination under an executive order signed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe moments after he took office on Jan 11.
The bill would have codified the protections so they could not be removed by the next governor.
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Next week a similar version of the bill will go before the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.
Also Monday, a House subcommittee struck down a bill aimed at repealing Virginia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, effectively ending the fight from the legislative front in this session.
Meanwhile, two federal court challenges to the ban are moving forward.
