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May 16, 2012

Virginia House Denies Judgeship to Openly Gay Prosecutor 
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Virginia’s Republican-led House has rejected the judicial nomination
of an openly gay prosecutor after opponents said he would push an
activist agenda. Tracy Thorne-Begland, a former Navy officer and fighter
pilot, failed to gain the necessary majority when lawmakers voted
33-to-31 to support him, with 10 abstaining. Thorne-Begland was the only
candidate among more than three dozen judicial nominees to be rejected.
Two decades ago, Thorne-Begland appeared on ABC’s “Nightline” and
disclosed his sexual orientation in a challenge to the military’s ban
on openly LGBTQ servicemembers. Republicans have accused him of
“homosexual advocacy” and said his sexual orientation would render
him unable to be impartial. Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Michael
Herring denounced the vote.

Michael Herring: "Where's the empirical evidence that once a gay person
puts on a robe he or she advances this gay agenda? I don't even know
what a gay agenda is."

 

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