VA Gov. Backtracks on Gay Rights

You probably recall that Virginia's new and allegedly moderate governor, Bob McDonnell recently issued an executive order yanking GLBT anti-discrimination protections in state employment.  Then, his Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, issued a personal legal opinion that state universities had no legal authority to offer those same anti-discrimination protections.  There has been a significant backlash and yesterday Gov. McDonnell backtracked with a statement that says the following:

"Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution."

The text of the entire statement is here.  This statement does not have the effect of law while the executive order does, so gays still have no legal protection, but the statement is significant for a couple of reasons.  First, the Supreme Court has never held that sexual orientation employment discrimination violates equal protection.  Such a holding would put sexual orientation on an equal footing with race and ethnicity in federal anti-discrimination law.  Further, as Andrew Sullivan pointed out, it would mean we have a constitutionally protected right to marry.  This would be the holy grail of gay rights. This is an amazingly sweeping statement. 

The second reason it's significant is that he felt enough political pressure from throwing gays under the bus to do a 180 degree turn.  I would prefer seeing the previous executive order rescinded, and I certainly don't believe McDonnell and Cuccinelli have suddenly become cool with the gays, but it's encouraging to see bigots pressured into backing off.