RVA Mag

Richmond, VA Culture & Politics Since 2005

Menu

The Million Dollar Question: An Exclusive Q&A With Jennifer Carroll Foy

|

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,

RVA Magazine spoke to state Senator and candidate for governor Jennifer Carroll Foy about career politicians, the relationship between police and the military, and making real progress in Virginia.

Last month, as the Virginia General Assembly debated a variety of police reform bills, RVA Magazine sat down with Jennifer Carroll Foy, a member of the House of Delegates, representing Virginia’s 2nd House of Delegates district in NoVA. A public defender and former magistrate, Carroll Foy was also one of the first women to graduate from Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Carroll Foy is a 2021 candidate for Governor of Virginia, and hopes to be the first Black woman elected governor in the United States. 

DD: Good afternoon, Delegate Carroll Foy, and thank you for sitting with us. You’ve been quoted saying, “The politics of the past are not the change we need, and the politicians of the past won’t save us.” Were you referring to your opponents in the 2021 gubernatorial race?

JCF: If we want real change, we need a new leader with a clear vision on how to move us forward. There are career politicians running in this gubernatorial race, and with this movement, people want change. [2021] will be a consequential election: trying to keep the majority, defeat this invisible enemy called COVID-19, and jump start our economy here in Virginia. It takes creative solutions, and the status quo isn’t working any longer.

DD: To voters who look at Terry McAuliffe and might imagine a potentially stabilizing force with the experience to help Virginia through a challenging time, what would you say?

JCF: Now’s the time for new leadership, because we’ve never had a governor who has governed during a racial reckoning such as the one we have now. No one has ever governed during a recession more akin to the Great Depression. No one has ever governed in addressing the global pandemic that we have currently. So experience matters — and you have to have the right type of experience. As a former foster mom, public defender, magistrate judge, community organizer, I am here for the people, and I’ve always been on the side of fighting for the people. Do you want someone who has real world experience and who’s in this for them, or someone who may be in this for themselves?

DD: Could you point to anything during McAuliffe’s governorship where you felt he was not on the right side of people’s interests?

JCF: The Mountain Valley Pipeline is something that should’ve never happened when we’re addressing climate change here in the Commonwealth. We’re talking about racial equity here in the Commonwealth, knowing that it was going to go through a historically Black community in Union Hill. There’s a number of things I can point to say, hey we can do better, right? 

Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: You mentioned “career politicians” earlier. Would you consider Senator [Jennifer] McClellan a career politician?

JCF: Yeah, she’s been in the General Assembly for almost two decades. [When I] say career politician, I mean people who are entrenched in politics. People are looking for a woman of the people, someone who understands a Virginian’s everyday struggle.

DD: Senator McClellan has supported progressive police reform bills during special session. For those on the left looking for legislative and policy contrasts between two gubernatorial candidates, how would you differentiate your record and platforms from McClellan’s?

JCF: While I’ve been in the General Assembly, I have been one of the most impactful and accomplished legislators, fighting for workers and women and families since day one. I’ve never taken a dime from Dominion, knowing they are a regulative monopoly here in Virginia. I’m for robust transformational policy, such as legalizing marijuana, reforming our criminal justice system. As the first public defender ever elected to the General Assembly, I have been championing cash bail reform and other policies to make our criminal justice system more fair and more equitable. Not because these are sexy, trending topics, but because I’ve always been in this fight, and I’ve kept all my promises made since I ran in 2017, whether it is cleaning up coal ash throughout Virginia [or] helping to expand Medicaid and give teacher salary increases.

DD: Increasingly, progressives are showing skepticism about the Virginia Democratic Party. Are you confident you can build a coalition to push through progressive policy?

JCF: Absolutely. I take it back to my training at Virginia Military Institute. Being one of the first women to ever graduate from one of the top military colleges in this country taught me how to work alongside any and everyone, because I am focused on the mission. 

If you are throwing around divisive rhetoric and are known for partisan politics, you won’t get anything done. How I’ve been able to be effective is leaning on that military training I’ve had and continuing, even in the majority, to reach across the aisle and pass a lot of my bills in a bipartisan fashion.

DD: Let’s talk a little bit about the military. 43 percent of the American military is made up of people of color. Many families of color see the military as their best hope for socioeconomic advancement. What are your thoughts on our American model, which leverages the promise of economic advancement to entice communities with fewer resources into the military and potentially into combat?

JCF: Going into the Armed Forces is an honorable task. Many people do it for many different reasons, whether it’s financial stability and security for themselves and their family. You go through a maturation process which I think is equivalent to nothing else, and it teaches life skills and politics. I think it teaches honor and integrity and public service in way that I don’t think you can get really anywhere else. I think it’s great and I would like to see more people, especially in this current climate, understand and acknowledge and respect the sacrifices that these individuals who enter the military are facing, especially with the recent attacks from Trump and some other cohorts, of questioning military leaders’ motives and calling people who are prisoners of war and died on the battlefield “losers” and things of that nature. This is a toxic climate right now, and I think we have to work vigorously to counter that with the truth. And the truth is the men and women in uniform are to be respected and honored above all else.

Carroll Foy during her time at VMI. Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: In my view, we have to differentiate between institutions and individuals. Observers have drawn direct links between US domestic policing and US international military actions, explicitly connecting regimes like Israel to US police training. Our government, via the CIA, also fought to uphold South African apartheid, by helping to criminalize and locate Nelson Mandela before his imprisonment. Given that you’ve participated in the US military establishment, do you have a critique of the US military’s connection to structures of inequality worldwide, and how it may also connect to our domestic policing issues?

JCF: I think that’s a really good question, and so to answer your question: have I really sat and thought about those connections? I haven’t. What I can say is that when you think of the military, you have to think of individuals who are taking orders. Right? We have a Commander-in-Chief you have to listen to, and so if a soldier is thinking about questioning or debating orders, you’re talking about people’s lives at risk. You’re talking about missions being compromised, and so the problem is when people who are nefarious use the military as an extension or arm or tool or weapon to strike against their enemies or people they don’t deem desirable.

DD: What about the mode of intervention of the US Military, where we essentially occupy sovereign countries and install governments via various modes of persuasion, violence, and politics — are you critical of that mode of operation?

JCF: Yes, so it’s a hard question to answer, and here’s why: when we insert ourselves into foreign countries’ policies and we bomb these countries or we do things that is to their detriment, then do I think we oftentimes have an obligation to assist and help in their recovery and to build them back up? Yes I do. 

I am not critical of the US military for taking orders, and doing something they’re required to do. I would be more critical of the legislators and the Commander-in-Chief who have ordered them to do so, and so it’s about questioning their motives and their logic for jeopardizing the lives of Americans, of citizens, of soldiers. So it depends on what country you’re talking about. It depends on why we’re there, how long we’re going to be there, why we’re occupying. That’s why it’s hard for me to give a specific answer because it’s just different, country by country, situation by situation. 

But for the most part, I understand what it means to be ordered to do something, and you have to obey that order. If we have an issue with it, then we need to take it up with the people who are making decisions and not the people who are executing and doing what they’ve been charged and sworn to do.

DD: Are you critical of our relationship with Israel?

JCF: So that is something that I have to say that I’ve been thinking about. I can follow up with you on that.

Carroll Foy and her son Alex at the General Assembly on the day Virginia ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: Would you commit to completely ridding the Virginia State Police of its inventory of military equipment that was provided by the United States military?

JCF: There’s nothing that I can think of right now that I would have exception to, so I’m going to say yes.

DD: Do you support a complete banning of no-knock warrants in Virginia? 

JCF: Yes, I do support banning no-knock warrants here in Virginia.

DD: There’s a split among some of the leading activists: some believe that civilian review boards should be mandatory and legislated down in detail in the bill, and others believe they should be optional and that municipalities should each decide the way these boards look. Where do you stand? 

JCF: Yes, I initially favored mandating because I felt like that is the direction we need to go, and some communities or localities may be reluctant because this is change and change can be scary. 

However, I’ve been hearing from a lot of the same activists that you are referring to, and they’re talking to me about why they don’t want it mandatory and that they don’t want these localities feeling it’s being pushed upon them then it’s going to be a lot of hostility. I’m still debating how I’m gonna fall on that, but I can tell you initially I was definitely for mandating civilian review boards because I think that’s one of the only ways you’re definitely going to get it in the localities who, let’s be honest, need it the most.

DD: At the moment, we have a conservative Democratic establishment standing in the way of the most aggressive police reforms in Virginia. If you agree we need to move the needle as far as the priorities and agenda of the establishment, how would you do so?

JCF:  That has been the million-dollar question. Democrats aren’t monolithic; you have people who represent different areas. Sometimes we’re not able to be as bold and transformational as we want because we may be outnumbered by centrists or moderates, people who don’t believe in complete bold change. 

The way that you alter that is to continue to elect leaders who will be bold and transformational until they are the majority. Then you can push this type of legislation through. Until that happens, there will always be a wall there, or a siphoning off of bills or parts of a bill that we really need in order to make change. That’s what at the end of the day has to happen. 

DD: Do you have a message that you want to send to Ralph Northam, Terry McAuliffe, Dick Saslaw, Creigh Deeds, Scott Surovell — Democrats who have been active in diluting and stifling the more progressive versions of the bills?

JCF: I work with many of these people, and I’ve gone toe to toe with a lot of them on a lot of good bills. I just have to continue to advocate and lobby and hope they see the light. But I’m confident because I know Virginia is trending to be bluer, and there won’t be a place for people who want incremental change, or who want to teeter on the fence. I think the change we need is going to happen on its own, and I’m excited to be in the Governor’s seat to help lead that change.

Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD:  The previous Commonwealth’s Attorney declined to bring charges in Marcus-David Peters’ case. Colette McEachin, the current Commonwealth’s Attorney, has said repeatedly that she’s looking at it. Richmond City Councilman Mike Jones has openly advocated for reopening that case. Do you have a position as to whether CA McEachin should reopen that case?

JCF: I do believe that the Commonwealth’s Attorney Office should reopen the case. It should be thoroughly investigated. He was having a mental health emergency, he was nude, there was no threat of harm or danger at that time — you can clearly see he didn’t have a weapon, given the fact that he had no clothes on.

Again, it goes to the lack of experience, the lack of training I believe these officers have, [the] crisis intervention training and de-escalation skills that they needed. They could have readily identified that this man is having a mental health emergency and called community services board and dispatched them out — come calm him down, and hopefully get him emergency custody orders so he can be treated. Oftentimes people are going undiagnosed, or they’re off their medications for whatever reason, and this is what happens. I have many clients like this, and I greatly empathize. I think the case should have another look at and should be thoroughly and independently investigated.

DD: What’s your position on marijuana legalization?

JCF: I support it so much that I am carrying the legalization of marijuana bill, even though some Republicans and Democrats have asked me not to. While I think that decriminalization will have a place in helping to reduce mass incarceration, it does absolutely nothing, according to a 2017 Virginia Crime Commission study, to address the racial disparities that Black and brown people suffer from our possession of marijuana laws. 

It’s time for Virginia to lead, and one of the things we can do is legalize the simple possession of marijuana for personal use. After that, we can tax and regulate it, and use that money for projects we haven’t had the revenue stream to be able to do.

I look forward to passing that bill next session. Statistics and polling show that the overwhelming majority of Virginians want the legalization of marijuana. It’s time for us to listen to the people we represent and get this done.

DD: Are you worried at all about the possibility of a third party on the left disrupting the Democratic gubernatorial race in 2021? 

JCF: It does not concern me. I’m not running against anyone else, I am running for the people of Virginia. At the end of the day, I know that I am the right leader for this moment, and that’s exactly why I’m running for Governor of Virginia.

DD: Are you confident your leadership is best positioned within the Democratic Party structure?

JCF: I’m a tried and true Democrat. People call me progressive, and that’s fine. I’m a strong Christian and I adhere to my Christian principles of housing the homeless and feeding the hungry and helping to make sure that everyone can work one job, put food on the table, have access to healthcare, and go to safe school. If that’s progressive, that’s great, but it’s just who I was raised to be.

Top Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

Bob Good’s Path To Congress: Inciting Fear of Transgender People

|

Topics: , , , , , , ,

Bob Good, who successfully wrested the Republican nomination for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District seat away from incumbent Denver Riggleman, is using fears of “a man dressed as a woman” in his campaign literature.

We haven’t checked in on the Republican Party of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District since last year, when the coalition that had sent Denver Riggleman to Congress in 2018 was, only a year later, publicly tearing itself apart in heated fashion due to the fact that Riggleman had officiated a same-sex wedding between two of his former campaign staffers. Since then, things have only gotten more heated and dramatic, culminating earlier this summer with a party convention that chose to nominate Campbell County Board of Supervisors member Bob Good to run on the Republican ticket in November instead of Riggleman.

Riggleman has recovered well — he’s remained active in Congress despite suddenly finding himself a lame-duck Representative, and is now apparently mulling a third-party run for Governor in 2021. Meanwhile, Virginia’s Fifth District has found itself with a choice on its hands that is far different from the one it faced in 2018. And with Bob Good on the Republican ticket, it’s a significantly more controversial one as well.

You see, until January of this year, Bob Good was Director of Athletics at Liberty University. And now that you know that, it may not surprise you very much to learn that Good has an extremely negative attitude toward the LGBTQ community. Even before he’d announced his intention to run against Riggleman for the Republican nomination in the Fifth District, he condemned Riggleman’s having officiated a gay wedding on his Facebook page. In one comment, he said that “supporting gay rights” meant that “Denver Riggleman does not represent the values of conservative Republicans in the 5th District.” In another, he said, “You can’t flaunt your apparently progressive/liberal values in front of the conservative Republican base in the district and expect to not catch any flack for it.”

Riggleman officiating the wedding of two of his campaign staffers. (photo by Christine Riggleman)

After Good officially declared his campaign for Riggleman’s Congressional seat, he said at a February campaign event, “I have a biblical view of marriage, very different from the congressman’s view on that.” Meanwhile, on Good’s website, he republished a letter from 11 Fifth District voters, originally sent to the Bedford Bulletin, in which they characterize homosexuality as a mental illness. “Homosexuality is a very complex subject that medical science has confirmed is psychological moreso than genetic,” they write, in the midst of arguing in favor of voting Good into Congress.

Now, with a recent campaign mailing inviting clergy members to meet with Good about the importance of “religious freedom” — a loaded phrase, to say the least, where LGBTQ rights are concerned — Good has used the existence of transgender people, and specifically trans women, as an opportunity for fear-mongering.

“What happens when a male member of your congregation goes on vacation and returns four weeks later as a female?” the invitation read. “What do your church bylaws state regarding a man dressed as a woman who attends a church function and expects to use the women’s restroom?” Though the email using this language wasn’t signed by Good, it was sent by the Good campaign’s “Faith Coalition leader,” Travis Witt. The subject line read in part, “When a man becomes a woman.”

The invitation also used the spectre of the Virginia Values Act, passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam earlier this year, as a bugbear. In the mailer, Good’s campaign claims that the Virginia Values Act — which prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, and public accomodation to anyone on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity — infringes upon… yup, you guessed it: religious freedom.

“Bob Good, candidate for Congress, is interested in preserving religious liberties as defined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” Witt’s invitation to Fifth District clergy read. “He is extremely concerned about the recent changes that now affect both large and small churches.”

Bob Good meets with clergy in Madison County (Photo via Bob Good for Congress/Facebook)

This move from a relatively moderate Republican who supported LGBTQ rights to a candidate who’s centered his campaign on attacking our rights has, in the minds of many Democrats, put the Fifth District into play in November. From being a state that went Republican in presidential elections for over 40 years straight, Virginia has transformed significantly in recent years. As of now, only four of Virginia’s 13 legislators in Congress are Republican. On the state level, Democrats hold both the governor’s mansion and both houses of the General Assembly — something that, at the time of the 2019 election, hadn’t been true in over two decades. For Democrats to take one of those four remaining Republican Congressional districts would be a huge coup. And it’s one Fifth District Democrats hope to achieve with their current candidate, Cameron Webb.

Webb, a doctor who teaches at the University of Virginia, would become the first Black physician to serve in Congress if elected in November. Political experts still see the district as leaning Republican, but polling shows Webb as close as two points away from Good, and between the possibility that Webb will draw a higher Black turnout in the election and Good’s choice to focus on opposition to LGBTQ rights, Democrats hope they can close that gap completely.

“We’re in the middle of a pandemic that has infected over 100,000 Virginians and a recession that has put millions across the country out of work, but all Bob Good wants to focus on is same-sex marriages,” Grant Fox, a Virginia Democratic Party spokesman, told the New York Times. “Virginians need help, and Bob Good is spending his time convening church officials to figure out how to best discriminate against the LGBTQ community.”

The Human Rights Campaign has also rallied around Webb, and condemned Good’s discriminatory positions. “The 1.3 million Equality Voters across Virginia have no patience for this type of divisiveness and hate,” said HRC president Alphonso David in a statement. “Bob Good might have been able to win a low-turnout party caucus by attacking LGBTQ people, but Virginia voters showed in 2018 and 2019 that attacking LGBTQ people is no winning strategy. Transphobia and anti-LGBTQ attacks are unacceptable. We need leaders like Dr. Cameron Webb in Congress who will bring us together and expand opportunity and rights for everyone, not amplify hate and division.”

Dr. Cameron Webb (Photo via Facebook)

Will the Fifth District’s Republican Party allow far-right intractability over LGBTQ rights to derail their ability to maintain representation in a county that ostensibly leans Republican? Or is this going to be one of those times that we find out we share a state with people whose intolerance runs deeper than we ever expected? We’ll learn in less than three months; in the meantime, Cameron Webb’s campaign could sure use your help.

Top Photo via BobGoodForCongress.com

Leveling The Field

|

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Both houses of the Virginia General Assembly have now passed bills allowing undocumented immigrants in Virginia to pay in-state tuition, making college a more realistic option for the Commonwealth’s undocumented students.

The prospect of receiving in-state-tuition rates in college never seemed real for T.C. Williams High School senior Mikeala, an undocumented immigrant who came to the U.S. from Bolivia when she was 7. 

“I prepared for the worst,” said Mikeala. “The only two ways I could have gone to college were to apply for scholarships — which are usually limited to students who are permanent residents — or apply only to private universities, but those schools tend to be more selective.”

Thanks to new legislation, undocumented students in Virginia may finally be able to afford to attend college in the Commonwealth. 

The senate passed Senate Bill 935 on Tuesday by a narrow margin of 21-19, which would allow undocumented immigrants to become eligible for in-state tuition rates at public universities. The House of Delegates passed identical legislation on Tuesday by a vote of 56-44.

Under the legislation, students are eligible for in-state tuition rates regardless of their immigration status. They’ll receive the rates if they attended high school for at least two years in Virginia, and either graduated from high school or passed a high school equivalency exam.

“[Virginia] has high level immigration from across the world, and a lot of those students are motivated to succeed because the country they came from didn’t give them the same opportunities,” said Del. Mark Keam, D-Vienna. 

According to the Migration Policy Institute, a non-partisan immigration think tank, Virginia has an estimated undocumented population of 269,000 people. An estimated 25,000 undocumented Virginia residents ages 3 to 17 are enrolled in school, but just 48,000 undocumented residents have attained a bachelor’s degree or higher. 

Virginia is commonly recognized as having a quality education system. The U.S. News and World Report ranked the Commonwealth #8 for K-12 schools and #14 for higher education. Some of Virginia’s top universities include Washington and Lee University, the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, and Virginia Commonwealth University as the #1 public arts school in the country.

“If your parents are struggling because they’ve never had opportunities, there’s a much bigger incentive to go and work hard to go to college,” said Keam. “I think that adds tremendously to the quality of our schools.” 

Many Republican legislators voted against the bill, expressing concern that it unfairly favors undocumented students over other out-of-state students — and may present issues with the Commonwealth’s education budget. 

“We’ve made a determination to not give this to West Virginians or North Carolinans, but this bill provides it for someone here illegally,” said Sen. Stephen Newman, R-Forest. “I hope that they would go through the visa program to get their education, and become a contributing member to our economy.” 

Proponents of the legislation contend that not only will it benefit the state’s education budget, but also the local economy in the long run.  

“Maybe we’re losing revenue by not investing in them,” said Keam. “Immigrants already pay taxes, but if these students succeed with an education, they’ll end up staying in Virginia and pay more in state taxes long-term.” 

Other advocates view the legislation as a human rights matter: that every student should be given equal opportunity in life, despite their circumstances.

“It’s important we don’t view [undocumented immigrants] as one-sided for their economic contributions,” said Mikeala. “They are humans trying to achieve their dreams, and they deserve the same opportunities as others.” 

Gov. Northam has previosly voiced support for legislation in favor of the undocumented community. Northam vetoed Republican-backed bills in 2019 that would have banned sanctuary city policies. 

The General Assembly has advanced similar legislation this session, including giving undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses. Making college more affordable, along with an increase in education spending, is also part of Northam’s Virginia 2020 Plan.

“This highlights that the federal government has failed on immigration,” said Newman. “States are dealing with the broken federal government, and I hope these bills will push them to make better immigration laws.” 

Standing On The Right Side Of History With Jennifer Carroll Foy

|

Topics: , , , , , , ,

The delegate from Petersburg has fought hard for her place in the General Assembly, and fought just as hard to make Virginia the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. This is her story.

A month into 2020, the General Assembly has entered a new era of historical change as Democrats have taken control of Virginia’s legislative body. One specific issue that has received immediate attention from the new Democratic majority is equality for women. And the first concrete goal for the state in order to advance that agenda was becoming the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

This amendment to the United States Constitution, which passed through Congress nearly 50 years ago, would state that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” In order for this amendment to become part of the Constitution, it must be ratified by 38 of the 50 states. And when, last month, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, the ERA became a pivotal moment in history — both for Virginia and the United States.

Even before the beginning of the 2020 General Assembly session, ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment was a top priority for Democratic Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy. But the fight for ratification was not just about the destination for Carroll Foy; it was also about the journey. 

Carroll Foy with ERA advocates on January 14, the day her resolution to ratify the ERA passed the House Privileges and Elections Committee. (Photo via Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook)

Growing up 20 miles south of Richmond, VA in Petersburg, Carroll Foy was instilled by her grandmother with the idea that “You can do anything you put your mind to.” Taking inspiration from this phrase, Carroll Foy focused on her education, working to overcome adversity along the way.

“I remember being in high school, in my JROTC class, hearing at that time that there was a school that I couldn’t attend because I was a female,” said Carroll Foy. That school, Virginia Military Institute, was the last military college in the United States to refuse admittance to women. Carroll Foy was determined to attend, and after a 1997 Supreme Court decision ruled that the school would have to admit women, she did. “I was accepted, and then I actually graduated in the third class of women to ever graduate from the Virginia Military Institute.”

Carroll Foy continued to defy societal expectations for African American women, earning a Master’s Degree in English from Virginia State University, then moving to the west coast to obtain a law degree at San Diego’s Thomas Jefferson School of Law. When she returned to Virginia, she began working as a city magistrate in Richmond before becoming a public defender.

“Being a public defender and helping people who are over 100 percent below the poverty line was something I was really passionate about,” Carroll Foy said, expressing empathy with her clients. ”Those are kids, people with substance abuse issues, mental illness.”

By January of 2017, she’d decided to take another step to help the people she worked with as a public defender. She decided to run for office to become the Second District’s representative in Virginia’s House Of Delegates. During the campaign, she became a mother of twins. Initially bombarded with concerns of how she was going to manage life as a mother, a wife, an attorney, and a candidate running for a seat in the House of Delegates that had been previously held by a Republican, Carroll Foy grew frustrated with those who suggested she’d have to decide whether she wanted to focus on motherhood or her career. “Why do they have to be ‘or’s’? Why can’t they be ‘and’s’?” she asked. “Why can’t I do it all?”

Carroll Foy with her son Alex on the House floor on the day the ERA was officially ratified by Virginia’s General Assembly. (Photo via Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook)

So far in her time in office, she’s proven that she can. As a legislator, Carroll Foy seeks challenges that offer an opportunity to alter the prejudicial and sexist paradigm. She wants to make sure change is made, and done so properly. “Equality is not something I’m willing to compromise,” she said.

Carroll Foy began fighting to pass the ERA as soon as she took her seat in the General Assembly in 2018. During the fight, she worked closely with Richmond-based advocate Eileen Davis, along with advocacy organizations like the ERA Coalition, Virginia National Organization for Women, VA ratify ERA, and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Before the 2019 election, she was unable to convince the Republican-controlled House Of Delegates to pass the ERA. At the end of that unsuccessful battle, she told Republicans, “If we can’t change your mind on women’s equality, we will have to change your seat.”

To Carroll Foy, the ERA has never been a secondary issue.“We have the equal pay act, but we need an Equal Rights Amendment as a constitutional anchor to really give those laws teeth,” she said. ”Once you start to pay women what they are worth, you lift millions of women, and millions of families.”

Carroll Foy isn’t just a one-issue legislator, though. She is currently working on legislation to end wage theft through a bill requiring contractors to pay what’s known as a “prevailing wage” — a wage matching the average paid to workers in similar positions in their industry. She’s also introduced the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act, which would require employers to make “reasonable accommodation” for pregnant employees, as well as a bill establishing a paid family and medical leave program through the Virginia Employment Commission. 

Carroll Foy addresses the House Of Delegates on January 15. (Photo via Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook)

But the passage of the ERA has been a big victory for Carroll Foy, one she hopes will prove that Virginia is on a new course. 

“This sends a message throughout the country that we are now on the right side of history,” said Carroll Foy. “What this says is that Virginia has come to a turning point, and now with Democrats in control, we are going to fight for fairness, equality, and justice across the board.”

Additional reporting by Marilyn Drew Necci. Top Photo via Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

Senate Advances Bill Allowing Transgender People to Change Birth Certificate Without Undergoing Surgery

|

Topics: , , , , , , ,

Senator Jennifer Boysko has introduced her bill to modernize the gender-marker change process for Virginia’s trans community before, but with Democrats in control of the General Assembly, it might actually become law this time.

The Senate passed a bill earlier this week that would allow a person who changed their sex to have a new birth certificate issued without requiring surgery, something that the transgender community said will help eliminate problems experienced when their legal identification doesn’t match their gender presentation.

Senate Bill 657 would allow a person to receive a new birth certificate to reflect the a change of sex, as well as allowing the individual seeking a new birth certificate to list a new name if they provide a certified copy of a court order of the name change. 

“I just think it’s important to try to make life easier for people without being discriminated [against] or bullied,” said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax. “Allowing an individual who is transgender to change their birth certificate without having to go through the full surgery allows them to live the life that they are due to have.”

Current Virginia law requires a letter from a health care provider stating that a transgender individual’s “sex has been changed by medical procedure,” according to Equality Virginia. Elsewhere in the Code of Virginia, according to Lambda Legal, that “medical procedure” is specifically defined as surgery. In 2019, Business Insider reported that the average cost for gender-confirming surgery is around $25,000. And according to 2015’s US Transgender Survey, transgender people are more likely to lack health insurance and access to health care than the general population, making this cost out of reach for many lower-income trans people.

The bill requires proof from a health care provider that the individual went through “clinically appropriate treatment for gender transition.” The assessment and treatment, according to Boysko’s office, is up to the medical provider. There is not a specific standard approach for an individual’s transition. Treatment could include any of the following: counseling, hormone therapy, sex reassignment surgery, or a patient-specific approach from the medical provider.

A similar process is required to obtain a passport after change of sex, according to the State Department.

Once the paperwork is complete, it is submitted to the Virginia Department of Health vital records department, Boysko said.

Sen. Jennifer Boysko. Photo via CNS

Boysko said her constituents have reported issues when they need to show legal documents in situations like leasing apartments, opening a bank account, or applying for jobs.

This is the third year that Boysko has introduced the bill. Neither bill made it out of subcommittee in previous years, but Boysko believes the bill has a better chance of becoming law this year. 

“I believe that we have a more open and accepting General Assembly then we’ve had in the past, where people are more comfortable working with the LGBTQ community and have expressed more of an interest in addressing some of these long overdue changes,” Boysko said.

Vee Lamneck, executive director of Equality Virginia, a group that advocates for LGBTQ equality, said the organization is “really pleased that this bill is moving through.”

“This bill is really important for the transgender community,” Lamneck said. “Right now many transgender people do not have identity documents… this is really problematic when people apply for jobs or try to open a bank account.” 

There are 22 other states in America that have adopted legislation similar to this, including the District of Columbia, Boysko said. The senator said that “it’s time for Virginia to move forward and be the 23rd state.”

On Tuesday, the Senate also passed Boysko’s bill requiring the Department of Education to develop policies concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools, along with a bill outlawing conversion therapy for any person under 18 years of age.

The bills now advance to the House of Delegates, where they must pass before heading to the governor’s desk.

Written by Rodney Robinson, Capital News Service. Additional reporting by Marilyn Drew Necci. Top Photo: Sen. Jennifer Boysko, by Adam Hamza, via CNS

The Many Faces of the Virginia Gun Rally

|

Topics: , , , , ,

Monday’s gun rally wasn’t violent, thankfully. But there was a lot to see at the Capitol that day nonetheless.

Tens of thousands of people from throughout Virginia and all over the nation descended on the Capitol Building Monday for a massive pro-gun rally, and the big headline in the wake of the event was that, despite widespread fears that kept many from venturing anywhere near downtown Richmond on Monday, no violence occurred. The extensive precautions taken by the state’s government in advance of the event was an important factor in the relatively calm event that ensued.

The lack of vocal opposition on hand may also have helped keep the peace; gun violence advocates, some of whom had originally planned lobbying events of their own, chose to stay away, giving the event much more of a unified crowd that united on common pro-gun grounds, regardless of their disagreements about other issues.

Despite the fact that Governor Ralph Northam, who had declared a state of emergency a few days before the rally, had banned anything remotely classifiable as a weapon within the designated lobbying area on the Capitol grounds, there were plenty of firearms to be found. With the crowd spilled onto the streets surrounding the Capitol, where there were no regulations on what sort of weaponry people could carry, there was an abundance of armaments in evidence.

Vendors hawked “God, Guns & Trump” t-shirts, and protesters carried signs and engaged props to make their point: that the Virginia General Assembly should not pass any laws restricting the possession and sale of guns within the state in any way, shape, or form, no matter how minor.

How the General Assembly will react to this massive display remains to be seen. For now, here are some of the most indelible images of the day, captured by our photographers on the scene.

Photo by Joshua Dudley
Photo by Christopher Brown
Photo by Liam Kennedy
Photo by Noelle Abrahams
Photo by Liam Kennedy
Photo by Liam Kennedy
Photo by Liam Kennedy
Photo by Noelle Abrahams
Photo by Christopher Brown
Photo by Liam Kennedy
Photo by Liam Kennedy
Photo by Christopher Brown
Photo by Noelle Abrahams
Photo by Liam Kennedy
Photo by Christopher Brown

Top Photo by Liam Kennedy.