Recently retired Sully District (Fairfax County) Democratic Committee Chair Mary Lee Cerillo asked me to
post her 2005 letter to the editor demanding the resignation of Steve Hunt, former Fairfax County School Board member and now Republican candidate for Virginia State Senate in the 37th District. Mary Lee writes,
"We can't let Steve Hunt win this race. It's crucial we keep a majority in the State Senate." Based on the information in this letter, there's no doubt that Hunt is a bizarre, homophobic character. No thanks!
To the Editor:
Last week I attended a Fairfax County school board meeting in support of a young gay student from Thomas Jefferson High School. This brave young man had the courage to speak out about the prejudice and intolerance he has experienced due to his sexual orientation. He spoke in response to Stephen Hunt, an elected school board member, who in blatant disregard for the tolerant views of the Fairfax County school board, sent letters to high school principals in Fairfax County, attacking homosexual “lifestyle” as destructive, and promoting long-ago debunked reparative therapy.
I feel Mr. Hunt has improperly used his position as a school board member to promote antagonism against our gay youth and the homosexual community. I do not find his actions a coincidence either, given the recent decision in Richmond to propose a constitutional amendment against gay marriage in the state of Virginia. Currently our state is ranked 50th in the nation for granting gays any rights, including owning property together.
What Mr. Hunt doesn’t get, is that because of intolerant people like him, hate crimes against our gay young people will rise. I will never forget the image of Matthew Shepherd left to die on a fence alone in Wyoming because of who he was. Mr. Hunt, my sincere hope is that one of your own children does not turn out to be gay. He or she certainly would not have a safe haven to be who they are living in your home. Our young people deserve a school board member who will protect and cherish them. Mr. Hunt does neither. He should resign!
Andy and Mary Lee Cerillo
Centreville
Also see what the
Washington Post has to say, in its
endorsement of Del. Dave Marsden for the Senate seat, about Hunt and "his
consistently bad judgment." As the Post writes, "[Hunt's] tenure is remembered mainly for his being
unanimously censured by his colleagues after he sent a letter to high school principals denouncing homosexuality as a 'very destructive lifestyle' and urging them to expose students to former gays and lesbians who had rejected homosexuality." Greeeeaaat...just what we need, another "Sideshow Bob" Marshall in the Virginia State Senate. Not.
