Richmond, VA — Glenn Youngkin is a hardline, pro-Trump Republican advancing a far-right agenda that would be disastrous for Virginia. In his latest testament to how fundamentally extreme he is, Youngkin has made it clear to voters that he does not support marriage equality for all Virginians. Now, new reporting illustrates the reprehensible bigotry and discrimination Youngkin is pushing in his far-right GOP campaign.
See key excerpts below and read the full story here.
LGBTQ Nation: GOP gubernatorial candidate can’t bring himself to say marriage equality is legal
By John Gallagher
Glenn Youngkin, who just last month became the Republican nominee for Governor in Virginia, must think it’s 2004.
It’s bad enough that Youngkin has made anti-trans attacks part of his campaign schtick. Now he’s dodging and weaving on a long-settled issue: marriage equality.
Asked by the New York Times if he supports marriage equality, Youngkin “declined to say.” Instead, he used a generic “conservative” label to describe himself without actually describing any of his policy proposals. [...]
Youngkin’s refusal to accept marriage equality provided an easy opportunity for his opponent to criticize him for. Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe, who has previously served as governor, has a long track record of support for LGBTQ rights. He even officiated at a same-sex wedding in 2014.
“While Terry McAuliffe is committed to advancing LGTBQ equality and building a better future for all Virginians, Glenn Youngkin is representing the reprehensible bigotry and exclusion of a bygone era,” Manuel Bonder, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia, told LGBTQ Nation in a statement.
“Youngkin has repeatedly made clear that he does not believe in a Virginia where everyone can live, work, and raise a family without being discriminated against for who they are,” Bonder added. [...]
By not stating the obvious, Youngkin is clearly appealing to the most extreme elements of the GOP, particularly its hardcore Christian conservative base. He’s also signaling that he’d be happy — or his base would be happy, at least — if the courts somehow reversed marriage equality. [...]
At the same time, Youngkin’s courting Trump voters by, in true Trumpian fashion, going on a tear against transgender people in speeches and social media posts. Trump has cast a long shadow on the Virginia race from his Mar-a-Lago exile, apparently still sore over losing the state in the fall.
Most of all, Youngkin is calculating that there is no political benefit on the state GOP level to say anything that could be remotely interpreted as pro-LGBTQ, and with good reason: the race for the lieutenant governor nomination in the Virginia Republican Party was noteworthy primarily for its anti-LGBTQ attacks.
One moderate candidate, Glenn Davis, was targeted by an opponent for wearing a Pride t-shirt at an event at Hampton Roads. A subsequent text asked, “Did you know Glenn Davis is a gay Democrat?”
The problem for Youngkin is that Virginia has become an increasingly blue state. It hasn’t elected a Republican to the governorship since 2009. The state voted for the Democratic presidential nominee by comfortable margins in each of the past four elections.
The kind of extreme politics that dominate the state’s GOP isn’t going to play well with most Virginia voters. In fact, it’s a guaranteed loser.
Which may well be Youngkin’s fate as well.
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