Delegates who called on Gov. Bob McDonnell yesterday to send a bill to the General Assembly adding sexual orientation to the anti-discrimination protections under state law gave the governor credit today for a “small step” forward with his executive directive.
On the House floor yesterday, Dels. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, and David L. Englin, D-Alexandria, called on McDonnell to propose legislation before the General Assembly adjourns Saturday.
Englin today on the House floor thanked McDonnell for responding to the outcry with his “very small step forward.“
“I think it says something important about the progress we’ve made as a nation when a conservative politician with national aspirations feels the need to move a tiny bit closer to the right side of history on employment non-discrimination,“ he said.
He and Morrissey still urged the governor, whose directive does not carry the force of law, to send down a bill or support legislative efforts to add that protection to state law.
McDonnell yesterday issued a memo strengthening largely symbolic anti-bias protections for gay state employees, attempting to douse a political firestorm set when his fellow Republican, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, last week decreed such safeguards don’t exist.
The governor declared that as head of the government work force, he will not tolerate bias on the basis of sexual orientation and he threatened to fire offenders.
Morrissey said the directive was “a step in the right direction.“
“I like to give credit and kudos where they belong,“ he said. “The governor took a first step but we will await ... legislation that he sends down so that once and for all it will be the law of the commonwealth that we will not tolerate discrimination.“
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