http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030501582.htmlDisgusting.
RICHMOND -- Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has asked the state's public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school Thursday that their boards of visitors have no legal authority to adopt such statements.
In the letter, Cuccinelli (R) wrote that only the General Assembly can extend legal protections to gay state employees -- a move the legislature has repeatedly declined to take, including as recently as this week.
"It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression,' or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly," he wrote.
Colleges that have included such language in their policies -- which include all of Virginia's leading schools -- have done so "without proper authority" and should "take appropriate actions to bring their policies in conformance with the law and public policy of Virginia," Cuccinelli wrote.
Cuccinelli's predecessor, Robert F. McDonnell (R), who became governor in January, had also held that only the General Assembly could name new classes for legal protections. But he never specifically targeted university policies that seemingly contradicted his position.
The opinion is likely to spark outrage with many students and faculty at Virginia schools.
"What he's saying is reprehensible," said Vincent F. Callahan Jr., a former Republican member of the House of Delegates who serves on the Board of Visitors of George Mason University. "I don't know what he's doing, opening up this can of worms."