Va. Senate Hearing on Discrimination Gets Testy

Legislators traded barbs with each other and witnesses yesterday as a Senate panel killed jobs protection for gays in Virginia state and local government, including (!) public schools.

A Baptist leader who testified against the bill got chewed out by Norfolk's Yvonne Miller, who alluded to his church's support for slavery. In response, the bigot brigadier snapped "I don't think you, Senator Miller, were ever personally a slave." The bill's Portsmouth-based patron also questioned the motive behind those voting against the bill, calling it "just a bias against homosexuals."

The Richmond paper noted that an association of municipal governments actually supported the bill, and in the end it was a close vote. Beav favorite maverick Republican and golden retriever fan Russell Potts co-sponsored the legislation, and one of the votes in favor actually came from a Northern Virginia Republican. I guess that's progress of a sort in GOP-happy Virginia.