Virginia’s public colleges and universities do not have the legal authority to protect gays against discrimination, the state’s attorney general has ruled. In a letter to the presidents and governing boards of the schools, Ken Cuccinelli said Thursday the institutions had “acted without proper authority” in adopting rules regarding sexual orientation. Such rules were “invalid,” he said, because the state legislature had repeatedly rejected attempts to incorporate into state law language that would protect homosexuals from discrimination.
The Republican official, who took office in January, advised the boards of each college “to take appropriate actions to bring their policies in conformance with the law and public policy of Virginia.”
Cuccinelli noted that sexual orientation is not among the protected classes listed in the Virginia Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, or disability.
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