Late Monday night, as you may remember, Republican homophobes in Virginia officially killed the judicial nomination of Trace Thorne-Begland to the Richmond District General Courts. Thorne-Begland, a former Navy pilot and current prosecutor, is extremely qualified for the job. There is no reason any sane person would vote against his nomination. But he is also gay. He was even discharged from the Navy under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And so, even though being gay is perfectly legal and we've righted the wrong of DADT, his sexuality is just too much for Republicans in Virginia to handle.
Delegate Bob Marshall (R-Manassas) led the charge against Thorne-Begland's nomination. Referring to Thorne-Begland as a "homosexual activist" and invoking his network interview on his DADT discharge, Marshall proclaimed:
I don’t even think it’s proper to put his name forward because of his behavior.
Now, Marshall has offered an incredibly weak and disgusting defense of his discriminatory actions on CNN. Watch below the fold.
In his interview with CNN's "Starting Point," Marshall offered this as his reasoning for blocking Thorne-Begland's nomination:
In late 2011, [Thorne-Begland] was critical of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, he criticized our Attorney General simply for explaining what the law of Virginia is with respect to certain protected classes. So he’s gone beyond that. He can be a prosecutor if he wants to, but we don’t want advocates as judges.
He added later (it's not in the video below):
You could preside as a district judge for a marriage of two guys if he wanted to, in violation of the law. Moreover, if you have a bar room fight between a homosexual and heterosexual, I’m concerned about possible bias.
But perhaps his most bizarre statement was:
Sodomy is not a civil right.
When asked if he blocked the nomination because Thorne-Begland is gay, Marshall responded:
No, sorry, you're mischaracterizing that.
Um...lol?
Watch the full interview:
I think Marshall has some book-learnin' to do. As the interviewer points out, there's a little thing called Lawrence v. Texas. There is indeed a right to privacy, and that right to privacy indeed allows two consenting adult men to do whatever the hell they want to do in their bedroom. Maybe the news hasn't reached Manassas yet, but Marshall should get on that fancy Internet machine and do some research before he blocks a man's future over something that is as legal as the gross heterosexual sex Marshall himself likely has (gag). Or, you know...no, I'm not going to go there. What Marshall does with a woman, or another man, is none of my business.
What happened in Virginia is a travesty. Marshall is going to go down in history right with the worst, from Strom Thurmond to George Wallace. The times are changing, but sadly, they're not changing fast enough.