Equality Virginia’s Portfolio

This bill expands the number of prisoners subject to mandatory HIV testing.

This legislation enhances the legislation passed establishing the Advance Directive Registry by requiring notification of the availability of the Registry by doctors.

This pro-business legislation, included by Virginia Free in its business rankings for legislators last year, would level the playing field for small businesses by allowing businesses and their insurers to make market based decisions about whom should be covered by employer offered group life insurance plans.

Equality Virginia strongly supports this legislation that codifies for the first time a statewide policy against discrimination in public employment by state and local government agencies,authorities, constitional officers, colleges and schools. Protected classes include sex, race, national origin, age, religion, disability, veterans' status, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Equality Virginia supports this legislation that extends the Virginia hate crimes law to include sexual orientation. This bill would amend the Virginia hate crimes laws to create a civil and criminal action for harassment and violent conduct directed at a person simply because of his or her sexual orientation. It would add to the protections now afforded by the new federal hate crimes law.

• This bill would add sexual orientation (defined to include gender identity) to the protected classes now enumerated in the Virginia Human Rights Act. The effect of this bill will be to extend federal law protections into state law. When Federal ENDA passes, this will mean that all private employers in Virginia would also be covered by state law, and that the federal law could be enforced by the Virginia Human Rights Council.

Equality Virginia supports the repeal of the Marshall-Newman amendment which wrote discrimination into the Virginia constitution and expressly prohibited relationship recognition of any kind (including even domestic partnership registries and civil unions) for any unmarried couples.

Equality Virginia strongly supports this legislation that codifies for the first time a policy against discrimination in employment protecting all state employees (including those at colleges and universities). This policy previously had been set forth in gubernatorial executive orders. Governor Linwood Holton initiated the tradition of Ex Order 1 being focused on equal opportunity in the state workforce. Every Governor after Holton, except McDonnell, followed that tradition, and Governors Warner and Kaine extended the policy beyond race, sex, national origin, age, disability, and religion to include veterans and sexual orientation.

This legislation is a form of "home rule" legislation that would expand the ability of local governments to determine, as employers, what benefits they want to extend to their employees.

This pro-business legislation, included by Virginia Free in its business rankings for legislators last year, would level the playing field for small businesses by allowing businesses and their insurers to make market based decisions about whom should be covered by employer offered group life insurance plans.