by Mark Tapscott at PJ Media
A Virginia court judge issued a recent decision against a challenge to that state’s Virginia Values Act (VVA) brought by two Christian churches, three Christian schools, and a pregnancy center.
Following the decision, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued a statement declaring victory:
“Our landmark civil rights protections will remain in place, and Virginia will remain a place that is open and welcoming to all, no matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, or who you love. I was proud to support passage of the Virginia Values Act and am so proud of our work to successfully defend the law twice against legal attack. As CNBC recently confirmed when it named Virginia its ‘Best State for Business,’ inclusion and diversity make our Commonwealth stronger.”
Herring’s mention of having twice successfully defended the VVA referred to his previous win in federal court in a March 2021 challenge to the controversial act. After that earlier victory, Herring said this:
“Every Virginian deserves to live without fear of being discriminated against because of whom they love, what they look like, where they come from, or how they worship. Discrimination will never be tolerated in the Commonwealth and I will continue to do all I can to defend the Virginia Values Act and protect Virginia’s LGBTQ community.”
In the state’s brief to the federal court, Herring had claimed that the the VVA’s purpose originated from the fact that “Virginia’s elected leaders sought to protect the Commonwealth’s more than 300,000 LGBT residents from the type of discrimination that has long infected public life.”
Note well the fundamental claim justifying the VVA — the allegedly continuing “discrimination that has long infected public life.” Note, too, that in the federal court case brief, Herring admitted that in the nine months the VVA had at that point been on the books, not a single discrimination claim had been filed in state courts…
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