This past week the Virginia House of Delegates killed the nomination of Tracy Thorne-Begland for a judgeship in the Richmond General
District Court. Mr. Thorne-Begland is a
former Navy fighter pilot and has a stellar record as a state prosecutor. He is also openly gay and, together with his domestic partner, is currently raising seven
year old twins. At the behest of the Family Foundation, Republicans in the Virginia House waged a campaign against Mr. Thorne-Begland which
was unabashedly based on Mr. Thorne-Begland’s sexual orientation. Although 8 Republicans supported Mr. Thorne Begland, all 31 nay
votes were cast by Republicans.
Opponents of marriage equality for gays react angrily when
they are called bigots. They assert that
they are merely expressing their deeply held religious beliefs and their
rapturous adoration for the word marriage – which they claim throughout human
history has always been between one man and one woman. Of course, they are ignoring the fact that
throughout most of human history, at least as documented in such ancient texts
as the Bible, men who were sufficiently rich and powerful accumulated as many
wives as they could. In more recent
times right here in the USA, the Mormon Church promoted polygamy as a matter of religious faith until governmental intervention forced them to abandon the doctrine.
We are told that putting the name marriage on a union between two
men or two women would somehow irreparably damage the marriages of the religiously devout. Similarly, allowing two men or two women to
marry would infringe on the religious liberty of the faithful by denying the
faithful the ability to impose their religious dictates on others.
However, none of these arguments apply to the case of Mr.
Thorne-Begland. The Virginia House of Delegates was not voting on whether Mr.
Thorne-Begland should be allowed to marry his partner; they were voting on his
nomination for a state position for which he was eminently qualified. He was denied a judgeship simply on the basis
that he was gay – and openly so. In
whatever way the homophobes attempt to dress up their opposition to uncloseted
gays – the naked truth is that their opposition is simply bigotry.
It is amazing to me that if one has a particular belief that is in conjunction with the left wing faction of this country, you are ALWAYS correct. If you disagree however, regardless of the rationale or reasoning, you are either: A. mean spirited B. a racist ( i.e. do not disagree with this President) C. a homophobe. Has Mr Cohen fact checked ANY of the record of this nominee? Has he brought forth any specifics to prove his case that Mr. Thorne-Begland should hold such an important and critical position. No, simply use the "Homosexual" card and everyone who might have an intelligent reason to not vote for the appointment of this individual for this judgship is immediately labeled a homophobe. I resent the position that Mr Cohen has taken on this issue. It seems, once again, we are not allowed to have an opinion without being labeled by someone like him. Look in the mirror Mr. Cohen, you are the worst type of hypocrite.
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