Tag: Virginia

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Virginia: Trump Jr. Urges Republicans To Vote For Republican On Wrong Day – TWICE

Donald Trump Jr.

As voters in Virginia are heading to the polls today to vote, Donald Trump Jr. thought he would do his part to help the Republican candidate for governor, Ed Gillespie.

The junior Trump tweeted out messages like, “Let’s take @EdWGillespie across the finish line tomorrow! Virginia: get out and vote for Ed  & entire GOP ticket #VAGov #VA.”

The only problem is: today is the election, not tomorrow.

And Jr. tweeted the wrong day TWICE!

Needless to say, the Twitterverse had a field day:

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Virginia Governor’s Race: Draft Dodger Criticizes Veteran As Weak On Veterans

Donald Trump

As folks in Virginia head to the polls today to vote for their next governor, Donald Trump took time out during his trip to Asia to criticize the Democrat, Dr. Ralph Northam, as “weak.”

Ralph Northam will allow crime to be rampant in Virginia. He’s weak on crime, weak on our GREAT VETS, Anti-Second Amendment….and has been horrible on Virginia economy. Vote @EdWGillespie today!

Trump also went on to note the “high crime” and “poor economic performance” in Virginia.

The only problem is: Northam actually IS a veteran, thus opening Trump – a draft dodger – up to a game of “glass houses.”

And others had some “context” for those “high crime” and “poor economic performance” comments:

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Virginia: Dem Candidate For Governor Slaps Back After Trump Twitter Attack

Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to campaign for the Republican candidate for Virginia governor, Ed Gillespie, who is currently trailing in the polls by about 4 points.

“Ed Gillespie will turn the really bad Virginia economy #’s around, and fast. Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage!” wrote Trump.

He also took a swipe at the Democratic candidate, Ralph Northam, saying “His opponent doesn’t even show up to meetings/work, and will be VERY weak on crime!”

Just four minutes later, Northam, a military veteran and physician, slapped back: “I served 8 years in the Army, took care of sick kids, and am running to build a more inclusive Virginia. Don’t talk to me about showing up.”

BOOM!

Talk about “showing up,” Northam was the volunteer director of a children’s hospital for eighteen years.

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Hillary Clinton Strongly Denounces White Supremacists’ Violence In Charlottesville

After the violent turmoil erupted at the nazi rally today in Charlottesville, Virginia, Hillary Clinton issued this statement via Twitter:

My heart is in Charlottesville today, and with everyone made to feel unsafe in their country. But the incitement of hatred that got us here is as real and condemnable as the white supremacists in our streets. Every minute we allow this to persist through tacit encouragement or inaction is a disgrace, & corrosive to our values. Now is the time for leaders to be strong in their words & deliberate in their actions. We will not step backward. If this is not who we are as Americans, let’s prove it.

At least someone knows what clear leadership looks like.

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Trump On Charlottesville Violence: “Bigotry And Violence On Both Sides”

In the aftermath of the white supremacist rally which turned to deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Donald Trump issued a statement denouncing the “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.”

It was the nazis’ rally that turned violent. Not peace-loving citizens who made today so ugly in Charlottesville.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. It’s been going on a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time.”

You’ll note that “Not Donald Trump.” He made a point to sidestep his own responsibility for stoking these racial flames the past two years.

This hurts my heart as an American. It honest to God hurts that our president can’t boldly stand up to this white supremacist hate.

Watch below.

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Virginia Governor Declares State Of Emergency As Nazi Rally Escalates To Violence

Just terrible.

A planned protest by “white nationalists” (read that “white supremacists/Nazis”) in Virginia was abandoned on Saturday after the level of violence escalated to such a heated level the governor had  to declare a state of emergency as law enforcement officers cleared the area.

From the New York Times:

The demonstration, which both organizers and critics had said was the largest gathering of white nationalists in recent years, turned violent almost immediately and left several people injured.

The turmoil began with a march Friday night and escalated Saturday morning as hundreds of white nationalists gathered. Waving Confederate flags, chanting Nazi-era slogans, wearing helmets and carrying shields, they converged on a statue of Robert E. Lee in the city’s Emancipation Park and began chanting phrases like “You will not replace us,” and “Jew will not replace us.”

Hundreds of counter-protesters quickly surrounded the crowd, chanting and carrying their own signs.

By 11 a.m., the scene had exploded into taunting, shoving and outright brawling. Barricades encircling the park and separating the two sides began to come down, and police temporarily retreated. People were seen clubbing one another in the streets, and pepper spray filled the air.

Police cleared the area before noon, and the Virginia National Guard arrived as officers began arresting some who remained for unlawful assembly. But fears lingered that the altercation would start again nearby, even as politicians, including Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, a Republican, condemned the violence.

The protest, billed as a “Unite the Right” rally, was the culmination of a year and a half of debate in Charlottesville over the fate of the Lee statue. A movement to remove it began when an African-American high school student here started a petition. The City Council voted 3 to 2 in April to sell it, but a judge issued an injunction temporarily stopping the move.

The city had been bracing for a sea of alt-right demonstrators, and on Friday night, hundreds of them, carrying lit torches, marched on the picturesque grounds of the University of Virginia, founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson. The group included prominent white nationalist figures like Richard Spencer and David Duke, a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Apparently, the white supremacists tried to spin Trump’s first tweet into a message that condemned the counter-protesters. Trump then issued a second tweet regarding the nazi rally:

At one point, a car plowed through a group of counter-protesters.

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White Nationalists March On University Of Virginia

(image via Twitter)

If you’re just waking up and missed it, torch wielding white nationalists marched on a church in Charlottesville VA last night.

From the New York Times:

A month after a Ku Klux Klan rally here ended with the police using tear gas on protesters, Charlottesville is bracing for a weekend of white nationalist demonstrations and counterprotests, and suddenly this tranquil college town feels like a city under siege.

Thousands of people — many from out of town — are expected to descend on the city to either protest or participate in a “Unite the Right” rally on Saturday convened by white nationalists who oppose a plan to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, from a city park.

“People are angry, they’re scared, they’re hurt, they’re confused,” said the Rev. Seth Wispelwey of the local United Church of Christ. “White supremacists rallying in our town is an act of violence.”

Late Friday night, several hundred torch-bearing men and women marched on the main quadrangle of the University of Virginia’s grounds, shouting, “You will not replace us,” and “Jew will not replace us.” They walked around the Rotunda, the university’s signature building, and to a statue of Thomas Jefferson, where a group of counterprotesters were gathered, and a brawl ensued. At least one person was led away in handcuffs by the police.

In a Facebook post, Charlottesville’s mayor, Mike Signer, called it a “cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry, racism, and intolerance.”

“I am beyond disgusted by this unsanctioned and despicable display of visual intimidation on a college campus,” he added.

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Trans Candidate Makes History Winning Democratic Nomination For Virginia House Race

Danica Roem

Last night, Danica Roem made history as the first trans person to win a Virginia state legislative primary and could be the nation’s first out trans state lawmaker.

From The Advocate:

Danica Roem has won the Democratic primary for the Virginia House of Delegates’ 13th District, making her the first out transgender candidate to win a Virginia state legislative primary and giving her a chance to be the nation’s only out trans legislator, if she can beat one of the most anti-LGBT lawmakers anywhere.

Roem today bested three other Democrats, and in November she will face Republican Bob Marshall, who has represented the district for 25 years and is known as “Bigot Bob” and “Sideshow Bob” for his extreme anti-LGBT stances and other far-right positions. The district is centered on Prince William County in northern Virginia, not far from Washington, D.C.

Roem told The Advocate she will fight for “transportation, not discrimination,” as the district sorely needs improvements to its highways and expansion of mass transit. Her other priorities include jobs and education, but Marshall, she said, has been focused on proposing anti-LGBT legislation. Just this year, he introduced a “bathroom bill” that would not only prevent transgender students from using the restrooms that match their gender identity, but require teachers to out trans kids to their parents. He used the debunked argument that in the absence of such a measure, men would pretend to be transgender prey on women in restrooms.

He also led the movement to block a gay prosecutor from a judgeship in Virginia, saying a gay person would not be “temperamentally suited” to the job; that gay people shouldn’t serve in the military because they might have HIV; and that if a woman has an abortion, “nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” making them more likely to have disabilities.

The election will be held November 7.

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Podcast: Chechnya’s Human Rights Violations Against Gays, Survivor Contestant Outed As Trans, Study Shows Marriage Improves Health For Aging LGBTs

In this week’s LGBT headlines on The Randy Report podcast:

• Gay and bisexual men are being rounded up, tortured and killed in Chechnya. Click here to sign Amnesty International’s petition denouncing the horrific human rights violations.

• A transgender contestant was dramatically outed on the CBS reality show, “Survivor.”

• Virginia’s Supreme Court slaps down anti-LGBT activists who attempted to remove protections for LGBT students.

• A University Of Washington study on LGBT aging shows, unsurprisingly, that marriage improves health and happiness among LGBTs.

• Indie actor/director Gerald McCullouch (“CSI,” “Bear City,” “Daddy”) releases his new documentary, All Male, All Nude, which goes behind the scenes at the country’s only all nude, all male, gay strip club located in the heart of The Bible Belt.

Hit play below to catch up on these LGBT stories and more.

Subscribe to my podcast page on iTunes to get new episodes covering politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBT community automatically – and it’s free!

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Virginia Governor Vetoes Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Legislation

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe

Breaking the record for most vetoes by a Virginia governor, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has torpedoed two “religious freedom” bills passed by the Republican-led legislature.

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

McAuliffe, a Democrat in the last year of his four-year term, vetoed the bills during a live radio appearance on Washington’s WTOP, calling them “another attempt to “stigmatize” LGBT Virginians.

“You already have religious protection. Why would you push this bill out that does absolute nothing?,” McAuliffe said. “All you’re doing is trying to divide people. And I”m just not going to tolerate it.”

The vetoes of House Bill 2025 and Senate Bill 1324 are McAuliffe’s 90th and 91st, pushing McAliffe past the previous 90-veto record set by former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore.

McAuliffe had already vetoed bills this year would legalize switchblades for some purposes, defund Planned Parenthood, allow homeschooled students to play on public-school sports teams, let military members under 21 apply for concealed handgun permits and add photo ID requirements for absentee ballots.

Democrats derided the two bills as anti-LGBT and discriminatory while Republicans framed the legislation as protecting “religious freedoms.”

Language in the bills allowed individuals the right to refuse to participate in a same-sex marriage based on “sincerely held religious belief” or “moral conviction.” This right already exists in the First Amendment.

Lacking veto-proof majorities, Republicans have not been able to override any of McAuliffe’s 91 vetoes.

Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish issued a statement of support for the veto:

“Equality Virginia applauds Governor McAuliffe for fulfilling his promise to veto this discriminatory and destructive bill. We recognize that religion is a vital part of many Virginians’ daily lives, but HB 2025 does not protect religious liberty. Instead, it provides a license to discriminate against loving LGBTQ families; furthermore, its broad and vague definition of ‘person’ would set a dangerous precedent for discriminatory individuals and groups to be protected by our religious freedom laws.”