by Maeve Korengold, Safe Space NOVA Student Ambassador

2020 was a landmark election year for LGBTQ+ representation, both at the state and federal level. According to NBC, over two hundred and twenty LGBTQ+ candidates won their respective elections. Among them are Sarah McBride who won her election in Deleware, becoming the first openly transgender state senator,  and Mauree Turner, Oklahoma’s first Muslim lawmaker as well as the first non-binary state legislator in the United States. On the federal level, Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres won their Congressional elections, making them the first Congressmen who are Black and openly gay. As state governments begin their 2021 sessions, bills concerning the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals are up for discussion in many states, including Virginia.

Virginia’s 2021 session began on January 13 and ended on February 11. One priority of many Virginia social justice organizations, including Equality Virginia and Ending Criminalization of HIV and Over-incarceration in Virginia is the decriminalization of HIV. Virginia is one of the thirty-seven states that still operate under laws that were put in place in earlier years to encourage safe sex practices and for the increased receiving of funds for HIV prevention efforts. However, with the newer understanding of HIV and how it’s transmitted that we have now, these laws only prevent people from being tested and increase the stigma around HIV and the communities that are disproportionately affected by it, putting them at higher risk for other issues.

“These laws disincentivize testing, deepen community distrust of public health institutions and put people living with HIV at heightened risk of intimate partner violence,” says Cedric Pulliam, co-founder of Ending Criminalization of HIV and Over-incarceration in Virginia, according to an article by the Washington Blade. “Someone can be bit or spit on and they can go to court on that and we know that’s not how transmission occurs.”

If put into effect, Senate Bill 1138 would eliminate the crime of infected sexual battery and the crime of selling blood, bodily fluids, organs, or tissue by people infected with HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, as well as the provisions concerning the testing of people for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

In addition to this, a bill introduced in 2020 regarding HIV discrimination was continued to 2021. House Bill 864 would change the definition of infected sexual battery to require that the perpetrator had known they were infected, detectable, and transmittable and that they committed the offense without using a barrier such as a condom or dental dam.

Another topic of discussion this session is a proposed State Constitutional Amendment removing the ban on same-sex marriage and affirming marriage equality. Although same-sex marriage has been federally recognized since the Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015 and Governer Ralph Northam signed Senate Bill 17 and House Bill 1490 repealing restrictions on same-sex marriages and civil unions into law last year, officially removing the ban from the State Constitution is essential in order to reflect values that are becoming more commonplace.

With Supreme Court Judges Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s October comments challenging the Obergefell v. Hodges case and the Trump administration’s appointment of Judge Amy Coney Barrett turning the conservative majority from 5-4 to 6-3, state support of the LGBTQ+ community is vital to the continued promotion of acceptance and representation.

Growing LGBTQ+ representation in government doesn’t mean as much if our Constitution doesn’t represent and protect the rights of everyone.

Because of the current conservative Supreme Court majority, the amendment process would take two years. If the amendment passes the 2021 session, Virginians will vote on whether it will be included in the Constitution in 2022. This amendment was assigned to a sub-committee headed by Delegate Mark Levine on January 14.

House Bill 1932, sponsored by Alexandria Delegate Levine, who if elected as lieutenant governor would become the state’s first openly gay and the first Jewish statewide elected official, would repeal the “conscience clause” that allows religious-based adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples. HB 1932 was reported from Health, Welfare, and Institutions with amendments on January 28.

According to the American Psychological Association, conscience clauses originated as a way to ensure that European immigrants who came to the United States would have the freedom to practice their religions that they didn’t have in Europe. However, as stated by the APA, “the right to free exercise of religion does not require a state to accommodate religious practices in opposition to a valid rule or law that is neutral, generally applicable, and does not target any particular religious group.” Making sure that LGBTQ+ couples are able to adopt children regardless of the adoption agency’s religious affiliation isn’t impeding on the individual members of the agency’s religious freedom or the agency’s ability to have a religious affiliation.

Senate Bill 1321 will also affect the adoption rights of LGBTQ+ couples. If approved, this bill will let someone who isn’t a child’s legal step-parent but has a “legitimate interest” in the child file a petition for adoption with the child’s adoptive or birth parent. This was passed by the Senate with a 24-13 vote on January 29.

State Delegate Danica Roem, the first openly transgender person to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly, is sponsoring House Bill 2132, which would ban the LGBTQ+ panic defense. Currently, 11 states and the District of Colombia have banned this defense strategy that allows a defendant to use a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity to blame for violence being used against them.

With violence against transgender women of color at an all-time high, this bill is essential to protect members of the LGBTQ+ community from violence as well as to combat the idea that LGBTQ+ people are to blame for violence committed against us.

HB 2132 was passed by a sub-committee on January 29.

The amount of members of our community who are involved in government is higher than ever before, and this is representative of how far we’ve come as a group of people who fight to be visible in every aspect of life, including politics.  These potential policies are important because they will secure the safety and futures of LGBTQ+ Virginians and promote further recognition of LGBTQ+ identities and issues.