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| Va. Republican demands opinion on transgender issues from attorney general | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| RICHMOND — A conservative Republican lawmaker from northern Virginia is suing Attorney General Mark Herring (D) to try to force him to fulfill his request for an opinion related to the volatile issue of transgender rights. | RICHMOND — A conservative Republican lawmaker from northern Virginia is suing Attorney General Mark Herring (D) to try to force him to fulfill his request for an opinion related to the volatile issue of transgender rights. |
| Del. David A. LaRock (Loudoun) strongly criticized Herring on Wednesday for failing to provide legal guidance seven months after he was asked for clarity on how state law relates to individuals who identify with a sex that does not match their biological sex. | |
| The call comes the day after a federal appeals court deferred to the U.S. Department of Education’s position that transgender students should have access to the bathrooms of the gender with which they identify. | The call comes the day after a federal appeals court deferred to the U.S. Department of Education’s position that transgender students should have access to the bathrooms of the gender with which they identify. |
| Herring has built a national profile on left-leaning causes, from gay marriage and immigration to environmental policy and gun control. His office recently turned around a legal opinion on the death penalty in less than a week. | Herring has built a national profile on left-leaning causes, from gay marriage and immigration to environmental policy and gun control. His office recently turned around a legal opinion on the death penalty in less than a week. |
| LaRock said Herring’s pattern of advocacy “infuriates” him. | LaRock said Herring’s pattern of advocacy “infuriates” him. |
| “All this while he waltzes around the country making headlines and promoting things that have nothing to do with what the taxpayers of Virginia hired him do to,” he said at a news conference. “I’m just about fed up trying to get the attorney general to just do his job.” | |
| Herring’s spokesman, Michael Kelly, said attorneys are researching LaRock’s request and a response will be provided “in due course.” | |
| “Turnaround time on opinions depends on numerous factors and our first priority is always to provide strong, accurate legal advice,” Kelly said in a statement. “As evidenced by yesterday’s Fourth Circuit ruling, the law in this area is developing very rapidly in very significant ways. | |
| LaRock was joined by eight Republican lawmakers in his call for an advisory opinion on the definition of the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as they relate to the state’s laws prohibiting sex discrimination. | LaRock was joined by eight Republican lawmakers in his call for an advisory opinion on the definition of the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as they relate to the state’s laws prohibiting sex discrimination. |
| [What a federal appeals court’s ruling could mean for North Carolina’s bathroom law] | [What a federal appeals court’s ruling could mean for North Carolina’s bathroom law] |
| During the recent legislative session, LaRock filed two bills that the LGBT rights advocates said would have discriminated against transgender adults and children. | During the recent legislative session, LaRock filed two bills that the LGBT rights advocates said would have discriminated against transgender adults and children. |
| The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia put the bills in a category of “ineffective, mean-spirited efforts to deny LGBT people, and, particularly, transgender Virginians, their constitutional and human rights.” | The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia put the bills in a category of “ineffective, mean-spirited efforts to deny LGBT people, and, particularly, transgender Virginians, their constitutional and human rights.” |
| One bill was intended to overturn a Fairfax School Board policy that includes transgender students and staff in the school system’s non-discrimination policy, the ACLU said. | One bill was intended to overturn a Fairfax School Board policy that includes transgender students and staff in the school system’s non-discrimination policy, the ACLU said. |
| LaRock hired a Richmond-based firm to file a petition in Richmond Circuit Court against Herring and is funding the effort himself, despite support from House Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights), who attended the news conference, and Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford). | LaRock hired a Richmond-based firm to file a petition in Richmond Circuit Court against Herring and is funding the effort himself, despite support from House Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights), who attended the news conference, and Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford). |