Will it never end? Apparently not, unfortunately. That's right, the crazy clown who says that "sometimes incest is voluntary" and that disabled children are God's "special punishment" to women who have aborted their first pregnancy, is out with yet another gem.Opponents of [Sen. Donald] McEachin's bill ["that would add discrimination based on sexual orientation to a list of banned biases in state employment"] say it's unnecessary.Think about that for a minute. Yep, you got it, Matthew Shepard wasn't a victim of anti-gay hatred because "gay individuals...attend more cultural events. And, of course, the fact that 39% of GLBT respondents to a 2005 survey "reported experiencing some form of discrimination or harassment in the workplace during the past five years because of their sexual orientation" is irrelevant because gays "take more vacations than the rest of us." Finally, the fact that, "[i]n thirty states, LGBT citizens can be fired on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity without any legal recourse" should not be of any concern, all because crazy homophobe "Sideshow Bob" Marshall says that gays "seem to have more income" than heterosexuals.
"I think there first should be some finding that homosexuals, as a class, are being discriminated against," said Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, an ardent social conservative. "In all of my experience and reading, gay individuals seem to have more income, to attend more cultural events, to take more vacations than the rest of us. Show me where this discrimination is going on."
My god, where do Republicans find people like Marshall (and the bizarrely "NAMBLA"-obsessed Sen. Mark Obenshain (R)) and how do they keep getting elected? The level of ignorance, intolerance and pure insanity is utterly mindboggling. But sadly, at this point, it's not in the least bit surprising. We hear these kind of crazy comments all the time coming from Bob Marshall and his colleagues, and I'm confident we'll hear many more in the future. Of course, if Bob Marshall had any shame, he would resign. But he doesn't, so he won't. Ugh.
P.S. On a related note, Bob McDonnell is totally wrong if he believes that agency hiring and firing practices fall anywhere under the exclusive domain of the legislature. Is Bob McDonnell aware that the Governor of Virginia, under § 2.2-103 (and particularly § 2.2-103.B.3), controls disputes and sets policies for the various agencies of Virginia's government, except where otherwise prohibited in the Code of Virginia? Also, is McDonnell aware that, under § 2.2-1201, human resources reports directly to the Governor and is a domain of the executive branch? Does McDonnell know that there is nothing precluding him from setting hiring/firing protections for any class he chooses? If he is aware of these things, then why does he keep trying to kick this issue back to the General Assembly? And if he is not aware of these things, then where on earth did he get his law degree? Whoops, I almost forgot. Heh.
