Equality Loudoun has done a great job of covering the actions taken by the Board of Supervisors (and my spouse, Stevens Miller, in particular) these past few weeks, but I just wanted to reiterate how proud I am of him for adding "sexual orientation and gender identity" to the list of things the county can't discriminate against. I'm also very happy that this was something the county staff were already doing, so it was just making it formal.
The addition of the language was originally on the consent agenda, which means that if nobody objects, it gets passed automatically. Any time "wasted" on this item is because members of the board objected to the automatic passing of the item...in this case, the objections came from The Man in the Orange Hat (not giving him more press), and Supervisor Waters.
(video courtesy of Equality Loudoun)
As the video shows, The Man in the Orange Hat goes over the top in his objection to the language and puts on his usual homophobic, bigoted show.
Which he followed up with an objectionable email.
Which the majority of Supervisors, including my spouse, objected to:
And which got The Man in the Orange Hat (and my spouse) some press
(by the way, I disagree that TMitOH needs a mental fitness evaluation, being a bigot isn't a mental illness. What he needs is to be voted out. Sterling, please get on that.)
But the upshot of the whole thing is, that Stevens Miller, Andrea McGimsey, Kelly Burk, Jim Burton (yes, THAT Jim Burton), Sally Kurtz, and Susan Buckley all voted to make non-discrimination the formal policy of Loudoun County.
And Stevens Miller, Andrea McGimsey, Kelly Burk, Jim Burton, and Sally Kurtz formally denounced TMitOH from the dias.
So, while I'm glued to Prop8TrialTracker and watching what's happening with civil rights in California, I'm excited to report that social justice is being performed right here in Loudoun County.
Nice summary.
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify: I completely agree that bigotry is not a mental disorder, and that mental instability is not an excuse for bigotry. However, they are also not mutually exclusive. A person can be a bigot and mentally unstable at the same time. That may or may not be the case with TMitOH. I suggest it only as a possibility that we dismiss at our peril.
We can only know the answer if an actual evaluation takes place.
Agreed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm trying to not to use words that are hurtful to various communities, and I've been assured that wondering about the mental state of bigoted people is hurtful to the community of people with mental illness.
That's fair. I hadn't really thought of it that way.
ReplyDeleteI do seriously think that this man shows signs of being a sociopath. Which is actually a personality disorder.