Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday ruled in favor of a transgender inmate, saying the state of Virginia violated her constitutional rights by not evaluating her for gender reassignment surgery. [ Read more → ]

RICHMOND, Va. – A measure to protect Virginia’s LGBT state employees from workplace discrimination, passed in the state Senate on Friday, and now moves forward to the House of Delegates. [ Read more → ]

RICHMOND, Va. -- A bill that would extend protections to Virgina state employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, was moved out of committee and will be scheduled for a vote in the state Senate. [ Read more → ]

RICHMOND, Va. -- Senators and LGBT organizers gathered at the Virginia General Assembly on Thursday to announce and show support for SB701 -- a law that would re-introduce sexual orientation into the list of protected classes for state employees. "LGBT Virginians aren't asking for special... [ Read more → ]

RICHMOND, Va. -- The GOP-controlled Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday voted to confirm the interim appointment of an openly gay judge to the Richmond General District Court. Judge Tracy Thorne-Begland will remain on the bench after being approved in the House by a margin... [ Read more → ]

A Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee on Monday voted 6-1 to kill a proposal that would have repealed the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Delegate Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) introduced HJ665 on Jan. 9, the first day of the current legislative session. He told the... [ Read more → ]

Virginia Commonwealth University has wrapped up its internal investigation into the termination of James Finley, the openly gay Women’s Volleyball Coach, and said their review found no misconduct or discrimination. [ Read more → ]

LGBT advocates in Virginia are rallying around an anti-discrimination bill ahead of the state's 30-day 2013 legislative session that begins on Jan. 9, but Virginia’s history with LGBT rights and the language of the bill has attracted detractors from within the community. [ Read more → ]

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Commonwealth University has found itself the center of a discrimination controversy after a newly hired athletic director fired the schools openly gay women's volleyball coach. [ Read more → ]

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Members of the University of Virginia's Queer Student Union are outraged over what police investigators are calling a recent attack on a student a suspected "gay bashing." [ Read more → ]

ARLINGTON, Va. -- A special prosecutor has been appointed to conduct an investigation into allegations of misuse of public office and improper campaign fund raising by veteran Loudoun County, Va., Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling, Va.). [ Read more → ]

LEESBURG, Va. -- The Loudoun, Va., Board of Supervisors on Tuesday commented on allegations that Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) used county resources for political gain and that he has engaged in questionable campaign fund raising practices. [ Read more → ]

Four-term Loudoun County Virginia, Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling, Va.), one of the Washington region’s most controversial politicians and head of the Public Advocate of the United States, a Southern Poverty Law Center-declared anti-gay hate group, is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for questionable campaign fund raising practices. [ Read more → ]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Southern Poverty Law Center said it plans to file a lawsuit on Wednesday, Sept. 26, in Denver in the U.S. District Court for Colorado against a Falls Church, Va.-based anti-gay group over a direct-mail campaign that used an altered version of a New York gay couple's engagement photo without their knowledge or permission. [ Read more → ]

ROANOKE, Va. -- A local body shop has come to the rescue of an openly gay college student who has had a tough time this year as vandals have defaced his car four times. [ Read more → ]

ROANOKE, Va. -- A Virginia fitness club has revised its membership policy after a Roanoke, Va., man filed suit against the club for revoking his family membership when it realized his family included his partner and son. [ Read more → ]

RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Circuit Court on Thursday appointed openly gay Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Tracy Thorne-Begland to fill one of several vacancies on the city District Court, just one month after the state’s General Assembly rejected his nomination. [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON -- Virginia Republican delegate Robert Marshall, who led the efforts to derail the judicial nomination of an openly gay Richmond prosecutor, said in an interview on CNN Thursday morning that “sodomy is not a civil right.” Marshall was defending his actions and that of... [ Read more → ]

RICHMOND, Va. -- GOP lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates, led by virulently anti-gay Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William), have blocked the judicial nomination of an openly gay Richmond prosecutor. [ Read more → ]

SUFFOLK, Va. -- The Suffolk, Va. school board has abandoned a plan that would have prohibited gender-cross dressing after the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia threatened to file a lawsuit if the school district implemented the new policy. [ Read more → ]