Virginia Editorial Boards Slam General Assembly GOP on Judicial Unjustness
"Tuesday's vote brought dishonor to this General Assembly and ranks among the lowest moments in a legislative session that's been full of them." -Virginian Pilot
"No matter how they dressed it up, the Republicans' opposition boiled down to old-fashioned prejudice. Even by voting at 1 a.m., they couldn't hide the fact that bigotry and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is alive and well in the state of Virginia." -Washington Post
"Tracy Thorne-Begland has served his country and his community, first in the Navy and then in the office of Richmond's Commonwealth's Attorney. Yet social conservatives in the General Assembly - spurred on by the Family Foundation of Virginia, which led the crusade for Virginia's ban on gay marriage - torpedoed his nomination to a judgeship in general district court because he has spoken out in favor of homosexual rights." -Times-Dispatch
"Thorne-Begland would have been Virginia's first openly gay judge. Rejecting his appointment caps a General Assembly session that will be remembered for its embarrassing pursuit of a radical conservative social agenda out of step with the modern world." - Roanoke Times
