I never quite got in a photo taking mood at the festival, but I managed a few snaps while on my shift at the Equality Fairfax booth and wandering around after.
Click an image below to enlarge it or view the set on flickr.
Representatives from Equality Virginia and several members of the Virginia General Assembly were on hand to discuss the 2007 General Assembly session and how it affected the LGBT community.
Compared to last year there was significantly fewer bills to track. The net result was one positive bill passed and one negative bill was killed and the remainder of the positive bills were defeated. No negative legislation passed.
For more info on the specific legislation, you can check out www.equalityfairfax.org/node/609.
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A few photos from the game night that Equality Fairfax held. We had a great time playing Scategories, Scrabble and other games.
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Some photos from our day in Richmond lobbying the legislature. Each year, Equality Virginia holds a lobby day in Richmond to help educate the general assembly on LGBT issues and to address the legislation, both pro and con, that is introduced.
After having gone through the whole nasty amendment battle in 2006, I was expecting turn out to be down and it was, but we still had perhaps 250 people come out to speak with their representatives.
I feel blessed to have Delegate Plum and Senator Howell representing me. Speaking with them and then comparing that with some of the stories from those represented by some other legislators really drives that point home. For the most part, we in northern Virginia have lawmakers who really understand that civil liberties should be for everyone and not just a privileged few.
The good news of the day was HB1727 (this year’s anti-GSA bill) was defeated in committee, a major step forward. Unfortunately, it has an almost identically worded sibling introduced by another delegate. Hopefully it will die the same fate. Given how short the legislative session is, it seems a frivolous waste to force the same committee to debate the same bill twice in the same session but, sadly, it will to be defeated twice this year.
Overall, it was a great day! And, I managed to snag a few more photos along the way than I did last year.
Click an image below to enlarge it or view the set on flickr.
HB1727 has an innocuous title: “School boards; policies concerning non-curriculum-related student organizations,’ but when you see what it says and who introduced it and take a look at some recent history, it is revealed for what it really is: an attempt to keep students from participating in Gay-Straight Alliances at school.
The text of the bill reads: “Requires that local school boards obtain express written permission from a parent or legal guardian before any student becomes a member of or attends the meeting of a non-curriculum-related student organization. The permission must clearly evidence that the parent or legal guardian has given informed consent as to the particular student organization.”
On the surface it doesn’t sound bad, but Delegate Lohr, the bill’s chief patron tried last year to prohibit GSA’s in Virginia with the HB1308. Thiat bill sought to “prohibit the use of school facilities by any student club or other student group that encourages or promotes sexual activity by unmarried minor students.” It also provided that the Attorney General’s Office would provide legal defense on behalf of the local school boards.
That bill passed the house but didn’t make it out of the senate. He promised to come back in 2007 with another attempt. And HB1727 is it.
Of course, GSA’s aren’t there to promote sexual activity of any sort. They are there to promote understanding between gay and straight students and to help students who may be questioning their own sexuality have a peer group where they can discuss their issues without fear of reprisals. Delegate Lohr’s intent with this bill is to make it difficult for student’s to participate in GSA’s on the theory that students will either be afraid to tell their parents or that parents will withhold permission. The fact that many students are afraid to tell their parents is one of the main reasons why GSA’s are needed in the first place.
This bill must not become law. Delegate Lohr’s bill would place an extra burden and cost on school systems that are already struggling to make ends meet. Now they have to print and store permission slips each year just because Delegate Lohr doesn’t want students to be able to discuss real issues affecting their own lives. Non-curricular after school activities enrich the lives of many students. Let’s not jeopardize them all just because of some homophobia on the part of Delegate Lohr. Please let your delegate and senator know that you don’t support this bill. You can find who your state senator and delegate are at: http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform.