"Quarantined," says VA Attorney General

If you've followed recent events in Virginia, then you know that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued an opinion that Virginia public colleges and universities can't expand their non-discrimination policies beyond the categories passed by the General Assembly. That means, according to the Attorney General, that they can't add sexual orientation and gender identity. The state's higher education community is in an uproar and fighting back, which prompted the governor to issue and executive directive, which does not have the force of law and is less authoritative than an executive order, that says that there is to be no discrimination including on the basis of sexual orientation; he left out gender identity--something that is happening quite a bit in the discussion, I might add. TIME helps catch you up if you're just now hearing about this.

Despite the fact that governor blinked a little and shifted positions a tad, the attorney general's favorite song must be "I Won't Back Down" because he is standing behind his opinion and he's using a disturbing image in his justification, according to the Washington Post:

"What I said in my March 4 letter was accurate advice under Virginia law, and it still stands," Cuccinelli said in brief comments to reporters after addressing lawmakers on an unrelated issue.

Universities, he said, "don't have any more authority than the General Assembly gives them, which is a similar position as the localities. And until the General Assembly gives them more authority, they're quarantined by what they've got."

That's right; he used the "Q" word. Google the phrase "quarantine homosexuals" and you'll see what kind of trash comes up. Normally, I'm not much on these kinds of subconscious/psychoanalytical readings of politics, but I have to say the word "quarantine" was a bit arresting. Substantively, of course, what is disturbing is that he persists in denying protection to all students, staff, and faculty of Virginia's public colleges and universities.

The whole fiasco has one up-shot, though. It has done more than any other recent news story to drive home the point that our community lacks and needs job protections. Let's hope something positive comes from it.

-Chris Sanders

KY Gov restores protections for GLBT state employees

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear restored protections to GLBT state employees yesterday. His executive order adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the protected classes in state employment. His predecessor Governor Ernie Fletcher had stripped the protections in 2006.

Beshear, a Democrat, said in a statement yesterday that the [Fletcher] policy meant that "a gay person could be fired simply for being gay. A person should be hired or dismissed on the basis of whether they can do the job. Experience, qualifications, talent and performance are what matter." The order says that the protection includes matters relating to "hiring, promotion, termination, tenure, recruitment and compensation."

Well, how about it, Governor Bredesen? Are you ready for Tennessee to join 27 other states and make sure state employees are hired and rewarded according to their merit without fear of discrimination?

Bad time to be a government employee in Nashville

Whether you work for Metro or for the State, chances are that someone has been evaluating how essential your job is. 2000 buyouts are being discussed for State government and 200 layoffs for Metro are in the works.

Let's say that most of these employees are downtown, just for the sake of argument. And let's say that all of them eat lunch for about $5 per person every day (or spend $5 downtown on something just about every day), that's an almost $3 Million impact on downtown in one year.

Of course, not all of the employees whose jobs are being cut work downtown. And not all of them spend $5 on lunch, but some spend more and some buy other things. And many of the Metro employees who are being laid off will land in other Metro jobs...or at least that's the hope.

I'm not saying the State or Metro had good alternatives, but there will be an impact beyond those employees and their families. I should note that SEIU's Mark Naccarato thinks Metro could approach the matter differently. He accuses Mayor Dean of "robbing Peter to pay Paul." Not surprising considering that SEIU endorsed Bob Clement in the runoff. By way of disclaimer, I should add that TEP-PAC endorsed Dean in the runoff.

State workers and the Wikipedia scandal

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/apr/13/state-workers-their-wikipedia-correct/

The AP has picked up a story that originally ran as a WSMV I-Team report. I had the misfortune of seeing the original on the news. Basically, we're being whipped into a frenzy because a few state workers are spending a lot of time editing Wikipedia entries.

In a year with budget shortfalls, there certainly is at least an appearance issue here. And it also looks as if some of the employees did violate state internet use policies. However, I think it's important to ask in specific cases whether the violators were getting their work done well and on time. The other question is whether the work of state employees is being adequately managed. Are there departments that don't have enough work to do? And aren't there probably departments that are overworked?

All this is troubling in a year in which we face the spectre of no raise or almost no raise for state employees. But I think the issues would be present even if no state employees ever visited Wikipedia.