• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RVA Mag

Richmond, VA Culture & Politics Since 2005

Menu RVA Mag Logo
  • community
  • MUSIC
  • ART
  • EAT DRINK
  • GAYRVA
  • POLITICS
  • PHOTO
  • EVENTS
  • MAGAZINE
RVA Mag Logo
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Sponsors

Virginia General Assembly Advances Bill To Modernize HIV Laws

VCU CNS | February 26, 2021

Topics: Center for HIV Law and Policy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ECHO VA Coalition, Equality Virginia, General Assembly 2021, HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, HIV/AIDS, Jennifer McClellan, Mamie Locke

The bill, introduced by state Senators Mamie Locke and Jennifer McClellan, would halt a variety of ways that Virginia’s legal system currently discriminates against people with HIV.

The General Assembly advanced a bill this week that lawmakers say will modernize Virginia’s current HIV laws. The amended measure has passed both chambers, but lawmakers must now accept or work out differences in the bill. 

Senate Bill 1138, introduced by Sens. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, and Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, also removes a law that prohibits the donation of blood and organs by people with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. A 21-17 vote along party lines pushed the bill out of the Senate earlier this month. The House of Delegates passed the bill Friday in a 56-44 vote. 

The bill repeals a law that makes it a felony for HIV-positive people to sell or donate blood, body fluids, organs, and tissues. Donors must be in compliance with the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act. This state legislation does not apply to national organizations such as the American Red Cross. The organization implements FDA guidelines that require men who have sex with men to defer from sexual intercourse for three months before donating blood. 

The measure also removes HIV, AIDS, syphilis, and hepatitis B from the list of infectious biological substances under the current infected sexual battery law, opting to use the language “sexually transmitted infection.” The crime is punishable by a Class 6 felony, which carries a punishment of no more than five years in prison or a $2,500 fine. In 2019 and 2020, three offenders were convicted of such crimes, according to data provided in the impact statement by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission. The Senate voted to lower the penalty from a Class 6 felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor. 

Opponents of the bill spoke against reducing the penalty for such crimes. The House vote Friday included an amendment to keep the Class 6 felony punishment.

The bill adds language that HIV will not be included in the current statute as an infectious biological substance. It is a Class 5 felony to cause malicious injury by means of an infectious biological substance. The offense is punishable by five to 30 years in prison. 

Sen. Jennifer McClellan. Photo via Jennifer McClellan/Facebook

McClellan said current HIV laws put in place during the 1980s AIDS epidemic have proven ineffective from a public health perspective. She said they are counterproductive and were implemented years ago to receive federal funding.

“There are other laws that could be used to criminalize intentionally infecting someone with anything,” McClellan said. “There’s no need to specifically target and single out for HIV-positive status.”

LGBTQ and HIV advocacy groups hope the bill will end the stigma attached to HIV-positive people and also LGBTQ members who are not HIV positive.

The bill has the support of organizations such as the Center for HIV Law and Policy, Equality Virginia, the Zero Project, Ending Criminalization of HIV and Overincarceration in Virginia, or ECHO VA, and the Positive Women’s Network – USA. 

Deirdre Johnson, co-founder of the ECHO VA Coalition, said the bill is a step in the right direction for ending the stigma against those with HIV. 

“One of the biggest things with the stigma has been the fear of knowing that you could be criminalized for having HIV, period, and then you know, of course, that deters people from getting tested,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that HIV stigma and criminalization have a profound effect on people of color and other marginalized communities who already experience health care inequity and mistrust. 

“Virginia is for lovers and I really want us to encompass that slogan, including people living with HIV and a perceived risk for HIV,” Johnson said

Cedric Pulliam, co-founder of ECHO VA, said lawmakers in the 1980s and 1990s saw HIV as something the public needed to be protected from when it was and continues to be a public health concern. There is now a call for state legislators around the country to change HIV criminalization laws.

Pulliam said that national agencies are reaching out to state legislators to help undo prior initiatives that limit HIV prevention, treatment, and services. 

“We need your help from the state to really, basically right this wrong that we created decades ago,” Pulliam said of the agency outreach.

Sen. Mamie Locke. Photo via Library of Virginia

Pulliam called the move to decriminalize health status a “liberation” for those living with HIV because they would no longer have a target on their back. He also said that laws specifically target people with HIV. In Virginia, syphilis and hepatitis also are criminalized, but other chronic illnesses and diseases are not, he said.

Virginia is currently one of 37 states as of 2020 that have HIV discriminatory laws, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If the federal government has really been calling for states to make this change, it’s time for Virginia to be one of the next and not be, you know, the last,” Pulliam said.

Written by Cierra Parks, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Virginia Capitol. VCU CNS photo by Conor Lobb.

Lawmakers Kill Bill Requiring Officers Render Aid, Report Wrongdoing

VCU CNS | February 19, 2021

Topics: bias-based profiling, Community Policing Act, Equality Virginia, General Assembly 2021, George Floyd, Mark Levine, New Virginia Majority, police misconduct, Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police

The bill, introduced by Del. Mark Levine, would have protected citizens against bias-based profiling on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as requiring police to provide aid to the injured and report misconduct by other officers.

A Senate committee recently killed a bill intended to minimize police misconduct and incentivize accountability among law enforcement. 

House Bill 1948, introduced by Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria, required law enforcement officers to report misconduct by fellow officers. Another part of the measure, which some opponents called too subjective, was that on-duty officers provide aid, as circumstances objectively permitted, to someone suffering a life-threatening condition or serious bodily injury. 

The bill also expanded the current definition of bias-based profiling, which is prohibited in Virginia, to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Bias-based profiling is when a police officer takes action solely based on an individual’s real or perceived race, age, ethnicity, or gender. 

The measure passed the Virginia House of Delegates last month on a 57-42 vote and the Senate Judiciary committee killed the bill this week on a 9-6 vote. Levine introduced a similar bill last year that also failed in the Senate.

“I call HB 1948 my good apple bill, because it separates the vast majority of law enforcement that are good apples from the few bad apples that are not,” Levine said when the bill was before the House. 

Delegate Mark Levine. Photo via Facebook

Dominique Martin, a policy analyst for New Virginia Majority, said before a House panel that the bill would establish a mechanism to create accountability among officers. 

“One of the major themes when discussing long lasting approaches to police reform is the need for change at the institutional level,” Martin said. “One aspect is addressing organizational culture. It incentivizes a more accountable culture amongst law enforcement.”

Vee Lamneck, executive director for Equality Virginia, spoke in favor of the bill.

“LGBT people, especially Black, Latinx, Indigenous LGBT people, are more likely to be victimized by discriminatory police practices,” Lamneck said. “Transgender women are six times more likely to endure police violence and Black transgender women experience even higher rates of being antagonized and criminalized by police.”

HB 1250, also known as The Community Policing Act, took effect on July 1, 2020. The law prohibits police from engaging in bias-based profiling while on duty.

Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, expressed concern with the part of Levine’s bill that required officers to provide aid to someone with a life threatening injury.

“The concern is that a lot of times in situations where you don’t know whether life-saving aid is necessarily required in that instance, the outcome may be that someone is injured more than is immediately recognizable,” Schrad said.

Schrad said the bill was a response to events such as the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died in police custody. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and will stand trial in March. The three other officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, will stand trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

 “It’s the George Floyd response that the officers there did not render aid,” Schrad said.

John Clair, police chief for the Marion Police Department, in Smyth County, agreed with Schrad.

“We’re police officers, medical aid should be left to medical professionals,” Clair said. 

Virginia State Police Ford Crown Victoria, by JLaw45, licensed with CC BY 2.0.

The requirement to render aid is not in the state code and though it is a requirement already for many districts, there is a need for consistency across the commonwealth, Levine said.

“I’m confident that the vast majority would do so anyway,” Levine said. “This makes it a matter of policy; it will be taught in training.”

Several bills centered on police reform have died during this General Assembly session. A measure by Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Woodbridge, would have established data collection on use of force incidents that would be reported to the superintendent of Virginia State Police. HB 2045 and SB 1440 would have eliminated qualified immunity. The bills would have made it easier for plaintiffs to sue police officers in civil court for depriving the plaintiffs of their constitutional rights. Both bills were struck down within the last two weeks. A similar measure from Del. Jeff Bourne, D-Richmond, who patroned HB 2045, was also struck down during the 2020 General Assembly special session. 

Schrad said Levine’s bill and the qualified immunity bill would have taken away legal protections and created a strict liability for police officers. Opponents of the qualified immunity bills also said there would be a negative impact on hiring new police recruits.

“These kinds of issues, all taken together, create such a standard of both strict liability, and no protections for law enforcement officers that we’re really throwing them under the bus,” Schrad said.

Levine said his bill was both modest and large. 

 “It’s large because it really tries to make it clear there is no thin blue line, that the goal of law enforcement is to serve the public first; and you should not be covering up bad acts, severe acts of wrongdoing, that’s not technical or minimal, by your fellow officer,” he said.

Written by Sarah Elson, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Police square off with protesters at the JEB Stuart monument in Richmond on June 21. Photo by Andrew Ringle.

Virginia Senate Committee Rejects Hate Crime Expansion Bill

VCU CNS | February 5, 2021

Topics: Anti-Defamation League, Equality Virginia, gender expression, General Assembly 2021, Ghazala Hashmi, hate crimes, Joe Morrissey

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi’s bill to expand hate crimes to include crimes based on perception — which would have had the effect of protecting gender expression, not covered under current hate crime statutes — failed in the Virginia state Senate after backlash from both parties.

Legislators attempted to pass a bill that would expand the definition of a hate crime to include crimes against people based on perception, but opponents said the bill was too broad and could be misused. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill by for the year late last month. Four Democrats strayed from party lines to vote against the bill after much debate.

The current statute defines hate crime victims as those who are maliciously targeted based on race, religion, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Legislators passed the legislation last year during the General Assembly session.

Senate Bill 1203, proposed by Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, aimed to ensure that someone who maliciously attacks a person based on their perception of that person’s membership or association within one of the aforementioned groups is held to the same standard as someone who attacks a person they know is a member of one of the groups. Hashmi’s bill also added color, national origin, and gender expression to the list of protected classes.

Hashmi cited an incident during Black Lives Matter protests last summer in which Harry H. Rogers, an avowed high-ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan, drove his truck into a crowd of protesters. Henrico’s Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor said her client, who was hit, was not protected under current hate crime legislation because he is white. She said Rogers drove his truck with the intention to disrupt the protests.

“Our current law looks more at the victim and the victim’s characteristics than it does looking at the offender and his intent,” Taylor said.

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi. Taken from her campaign’s website.

Vee Lamneck, the executive director of Equality Virginia, said hate crimes are more than acts of violence. Such crimes are committed with the intention of inciting fear and dehumanizing groups, Lamneck said.

“Individuals with intersecting identities, especially Black, Latinx and Indigenous LGBTQ people are exposed to higher rates of violence,” Lamneck said. “Redefinition of the categories in this bill will help to further ensure that all diverse members of our communities are sufficiently protected by the law from hate crime violence and that perpetrators of such violence are held appropriately responsible.”

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, said during the committee hearing that the bill was a massive expansion of the current statute. Petersen said the proposed changes would be “pretty far off-field from the original purpose.”

Opponents, including the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the bill was too broad and could allow for the exploitation of who was a hate crime victim. Legislators pondered over if this meant a person of color could be charged with a hate crime for assaulting a white person and postulated several scenarios of how the bill could be misused.

Emanuel Harris, a representative for the Black Coalition for Change, called the questioning of the protection of white supremacists puzzling, offensive, and laughable.

“The history has shown that the Black community is the one being intimidated, not the other way around,” Harris said during the public comment portion of the meeting. Harris said the original statute needs to be expanded.

“I am offended that folks brought this and then clouded, or wrapped it up in BLM, and suggested that if we vote against it, somehow we’re not supporting the prosecution of hate crimes, because that is not what we are doing,” said Sen. Joseph Morrissey, D-Richmond. “This bill is offensive in so many different ways.” 

Morrissey was a co-patron for the hate crime legislation that passed in 2020.

Hashmi said Morrissey was approaching the bill from a position of privilege, at which point Senate Minority Leader Thomas Norment, R-Williamsburg, interrupted with an “Oh my God.” Hashmi continued and said the bill addressed race as well as oppressed and terrorized religious and LGBTQ communities. 

Sen. Joe Morrissey questioned several aspects of the bill and said that he found the bill “offensive in so many different ways.” Photo via VCU-CNS

The Anti-Defamation League helped with the bill’s language. Meredith R. Weisel, representing the ADL, said the bill is important because it would help ensure that offenders who are mistaken about the victim’s protected characteristics can still be held accountable for a hate crime under the law.

Brittany Whitley, chief of external affairs and policy with the Office of the Attorney General, spoke in support of the bill along with other citizens and attorneys.

Hashmi said in an email that she hopes to refine the language in the bill and will consider reintroducing it next year. 

“Addressing hate crimes is important for the well-being of our communities: hate crimes are designed to harm and inflict pain on not just the targeted individual(s) but also to intimidate and terrorize entire groups of people,” she said.

Written by Cierra Parks, Capital News Service. Top Photo: June march for Black Lives Matter on Monument Avenue. Photo by Ada Romano.

Northam Ceremonially Signs the Virginia Values Act

Marilyn Drew Necci | July 28, 2020

Topics: Aurora Higgs, Diversity Richmond, Equality Virginia, General Assembly 2020, James Parrish, LGBTQ rights, Mark Herring, pam northam, Ralph Northam, Vee Lamneck, Virginia Values Act, Virginia Values Coalition, Zakia McKensey

Joined by LGBTQ rights advocates from around Virginia, Governor Northam held a ceremonial signing of the Virginia Values Act last Thursday at Diversity Richmond.

Last Thursday, Governor Ralph Northam got together with LGBTQ advocates from all over Virginia to host a ceremonial signing of the Virginia Values Act. The event, which was streamed on Equality Virginia’s Facebook page but not open to the public, was an opportunity to commemorate the significant expansion of LGBTQ rights in Virginia in a proper socially-distanced fashion, and everyone involved was glad to take it.

The Virginia Values Act was passed by both houses of the General Assembly earlier this year, signed into law in April by Governor Northam, and went into effect at the beginning of July. The act forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in a number of areas, including employment, housing, and public accomodations. For the first time, LGBTQ Virginians can live free of worry that they will be evicted, fired, or refused service in stores and restaurants.

In light of such a groundbreaking expansion of LGBTQ rights within the state, LGBTQ advocates wanted to commemorate the Virginia Values Act’s passage in a more formal setting that hadn’t been possible in April, at the height of the pandemic. The gathering last Thursday at Diversity Richmond provided the perfect opportunity. Virginia Values Coalition director James Parrish, Equality Virginia executive director Vee Lamneck, local advocates Zakia McKensey and Aurora Higgs, and other LGBTQ Virginians were joined at the event by public officials including Governor Northam, Virginia First Lady Pam Northam, Attorney General Mark Herring, and Virginia state Senator Adam Ebbin.

Governor Northam called the ceremonial signing “an exciting day for Virginia.” Referencing the years of effort that went into crafting and passing the Virginia Values Act, he said, “It has been a team effort and together, together we have all come a long way.”

Watch the full signing ceremony, as streamed on Facebook Live, below.

Photo via Governor Northam’s office

Stonewall Rising: Showing Support With Pride

GayRVA Staff | July 2, 2020

Topics: alexsis rodgers, black lives matter, Black Pride RVA, Diversity Richmond, Equality Virginia, health brigade, Jennifer McClellan, Joseph Papa, LGBTQ Pride Month, Marcus-David Peters, Minority Veterans of America, Nationz Foundation, Pride Month, Rebecca Keel, Richmond Lesbian Feminists, Richmond LGBTQ Chamber, Richmond Triangle Players, Southerners on new ground, Stonewall Rising, Stonewall Sports, va pride, Virginia Anti-Violence Project

Last weekend’s Stonewall Rising march was an act of solidarity by Richmond’s LGBTQ community, which took this opportunity during Pride Month to march in support of Black lives.

On Saturday, June 27, Richmond’s LGBTQ community commemorated the last weekend of Pride Month with a march demonstrating solidarity with the Black community of Richmond and beyond. Stonewall Rising: LGBTQ March For Black Lives was organized by a variety of Richmond LGBTQ advocacy and support groups, including Diversity Richmond, the Richmond LGBTQ Chamber, Nationz Foundation, Black Pride RVA, VA Pride, Equality Virginia, Virginia Anti-Violence Project, Southerners On New Ground, Health Brigade, Minority Veterans of America, Richmond Triangle Players, Richmond Lesbian Feminists, and Stonewall Sports.

The march began with a gathering at Diversity Richmond on Sherwood Ave, where local LGBTQ activist Rebecca Keel rallied the crowd with a speech about how the LGBTQ rights movement began 51 years earlier — almost to the day — at Stonewall Inn with a riot against police oppression. After a few other speeches, the crowd formed up and began marching toward the Richmond Police Training Academy on Graham Rd, just over a mile away from Diversity Richmond.

Jennifer McClellan speaks at Richmond Police Training Academy.

The crowd, which numbered at least 1000 at the peak of the protest according to local LGBTQ activist Joseph Papa, carried signs featuring slogans like “Black Trans Lives Matter” and “Pride For Black Lives,” as well as posters depicting Breonna Taylor and Marcus-David Peters. The protest was greeted at the Police Training Academy by a line of police in riot gear, but things remained peaceful. Several leaders spoke to the assembled crowd, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McClellan. Alexsis Rodgers, who is currently running for mayor of Richmond, was also in attendance. The evening ended with a march back to Diversity Richmond.

Here are some photos of the evening’s events, captured by Richmond photographer David Kenedy.

Rebecca Keel.

The Work Is Never Done

Mitchel Bamberger | July 1, 2020

Topics: anti-LGBTQ discrimination, Aurora Higgs, black lives matter, Civil Rights Act, Equality Virginia, LGBTQ civil rights, Title VII, US Supreme Court, Vee Lamneck, Virginia Values Act

Equality Virginia’s Vee Lamneck talks to GayRVA about Title VII, The Virginia Values Act, and the connections between LGBTQ and BLM.

On June 15th, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed three historic cases and came to one monumental decision: that Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 protected LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Prior to the Title VII decision, it was completely lawful in quite a few states of the union for an employee of a private corporation to be fired or passed up for employment for being LGBTQ.

The Supreme Court made a statement about one of the cases, saying, “Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.” – Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, June 15, 2020.

In many ways, this case was a matter of analyzing the Civil Rights Act through a modern lens and recontextualizing the age-old issue of sex discrimination to address the issues of LGBTQ people. When The Civil Rights Act was originally passed, the legislators responsible for its proposal and approval were almost certainly thinking of women, and not of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans people. However, when Title VII was reviewed in today’s context, the justices found that the same laws that protected women from discrimination in ‘60’s should also protect LGBTQ people today.

One of the foremost advocacy groups for LGBTQ rights in Virginia is Equality Virginia, an organization that is dedicated to creating a truly inclusive commonwealth for all Virginians, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. Equality Virginia Executive Director Vee Lamneck, who uses they/them pronouns, spoke to us about what this landmark Supreme Court decision means for LGBTQ Richmonders, Virginians, and Americans.

“LGBTQ people have been advocating for their rights for decades,” Lamneck said. “There are many states in the country that have non-discrimination protections in place at the state level, and I am very proud that Virginia is soon to be one of them.”

Lamneck is referring to The Virginia Values Act, which was passed by the General Assembly this spring and takes effect on July 1st. This bill will protect LGBTQ Virginians from discrimination in all public spaces and places of business, not just as employees but as customers and citizens as well.

“This means that LGBTQ people will be able to go about their daily lives without fear of discrimination in housing, in public spaces like restaurants and hotels, and also in employment,” Lamneck continued.

Image via Equality Virginia/Facebook

Lamneck explained that the Virginia Values Act goes farther than the recent Supreme Court decision, protecting LGBTQ people beyond the workplace. “The Virginia Values Act speaks to public accommodations protections, so that you cannot be discriminated against or denied service when you walk into a restaurant or shop or hotel on the basis of your orientation or identity,” they said. “Title VII does not speak to that, which is why there’s a lot more work to do on the federal level.”

While Lamneck is very pleased about the protections Virginians are ensured within the Commonwealth, they still consider it very important to focus on federal protections. “Once Virginians leave the Commonwealth and go to other states, depending on which state you’re in, those protections may not be in place,” they said.

The recent Supreme Court decision is important to ensure that LGBTQ people are protected against discrimination throughout the country, but it’s not the only action taking place at the federal level where LGBTQ rights are concerned. Lamneck pointed out that the Equality Act, a bill that would amend the Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes throughout, passed the US House Of Representatives in 2019, and is currently under consideration by the US Senate.

“The passage of the Equality Act will ensure comprehensive protections for LGBTQ Americans,” Lamneck explained. And while there’s still hope within the LGBTQ community that it will be passed at some point, the recent Supreme Court decision does offer some much-needed relief. “This decision is so important,” they said, “especially for those individuals and their families living in states without these protections.”

Aurora Higgs, a 29 year old black transgender woman who is an LGBTQ scholar, activist, and public speaker, has worked with Lamneck and Equality Virginia on campaigns for LGBTQ equality in Virginia. Higgs is very happy to see the Virginia Values Act go into effect later this week, mentioning that previous laws intended to provide protections for LGBTQ Virginians, none of which passed, had all included disappointing limitations. “This law is so much more comprehensive and covers all of the people in the rural areas that are always going to be the most at risk,” Higgs said.

Despite living in a state that now has protections for LGBTQ people against employment discrimination, Higgs was still glad to hear about the Title VII Supreme Court decision. “It will ensure that the same protections that I enjoy in a state that already has those laws in place can be experienced anywhere in this country,” Higgs said. “Traveling for queer and trans people is incredibly daunting, because you never know what the climate of a community is until you’re in it.”

Higgs shared how she in particular has faced real concerns about discrimination in employment over the course of her life — concerns that she hopes will be diminished by the passage of the Virginia Values Act and the recent Supreme Court decision. “It’s really difficult to enforce discrimination policies in a job interview when there are so many factors that they could use as pretext to not hire you,” she said. “I worry about showing up for job interviews and being seen as a professional when I’m trans and black.”

Under the Supreme Court’s new Title VII decision, Higgs said, working conditions will improve for LGBTQ Americans in a variety of ways. “Employers will have to have a fire lit under them to ensure that insurance policies are adequate for trans people and that the workplace culture is adequate,” Higgs said. “As happy as I am I see it, [it’s] not so much a victory as getting one more hurdle out of the way to liberation, which is the final goal.”

Both Higgs and Lamneck drew parallels between LGBTQ rights and the Black Lives Matter movement that has recently swept across the nation. Lamneck explained how the human rights effort of the BLM Movement and the nationwide protests have affected the work of Equality Virginia, and how the fight for LGBTQ rights and Racial Equality are connected. They also illuminated how the discrimination and inequality that LGBTQ people are subjected to is compounded by their race. Race is the hidden, implied context of every conversation, every law and every decision. A black LGBTQ person’s struggle for equality is compounded by their blackness — which makes things harder still. “Even with the Title VII decision, black LGBTQ people are still experiencing disproportionate discrimination in their lives.” Lamneck said. “Our laws need to address systemic racism and inequality.”

Aurora Higgs. Photo via Facebook

To Higgs, it’s clear that the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ rights movement are fundamentally aligned. “The BLM movement seeks to disrupt not just racism but white supremacy,” Higgs said. “White supremacy has historically been misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic. All of those thing are still present to this day, and they compound one another.”

However, both Higgs and Lamneck agree that the effects of discrimination are magnified by those who exist within multiple marginalized groups. “My experience as a white queer person and the discrimination that I may experience is going to look different than the discrimination of the black trans person next to me because she is experiencing racism, homophobia, and sexism all at the same time,” Lamneck explained.

“There is so much joy and hardship that comes with being black and trans and queer,” said Higgs. “But when you have different dimensions of diversity and marginalization, they compound on one another.”

Higgs believes that the LGBTQ civil rights movement working alongside the Black Lives Matter movement is an ideal way to enable both groups to better understand and support one another. “Although the [Black Lives Matter] movement highlights black lives, it’s really shedding a light on oppression, and I think we all relate to oppression,” she said. “The fastest way to empathy is shared experience.”

While Lamneck is feeling positive about the recent progress in LGBTQ civil rights, they recognize that there’s still a lot more to be done. “This moment reminds us that, yes, this is a victory for the LGBT movement, but also that the work is not done”, Lamneck said. “We need to work to address systemic racism, homophobia, and transphobia. The work for LGBTQ equality must be interwoven with the work to dismantle systemic racism.”

In the future, Lamneck hopes to not only carry on with Equality Virginia’s current mission of fighting for LGBTQ civil rights in the Commonwealth, but to expand that work to encompass other marginalized groups. “I think our work here as an organization needs to continue to restructure as an anti-racist organization,” they said.

For Higgs, the main focus of civil rights activism in the coming years needs to be to increase political representation by and for marginalized groups. “We don’t have hardly any representation in the federal government,” she said. “The most sustainable solution I can think of is having more queer and trans people of color in both appointments at the state level and as elected officials nationwide. I don’t think we can really hope for anything until we have representation in politics.”

For now, though, LGBTQ people in Virginia can breathe slightly easier, knowing that the Virginia Values Act and the recent Supreme Court decision give them more protections against discrimination than they’ve ever had before.

Top Photo via Equality Virginia/Facebook

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 5
  • ⟩

sidebar

sidebar-alt

Copyright © 2021 · RVA Magazine on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Close

    Event Details

    Please fill out the form below to suggest an event to us. We will get back to you with further information.


    OR Free Event

    CONTACT: [email protected]