Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 22, 1991 TAG: 9104220159
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"The negative connotation and references should be removed" from Virginia's ABC laws, said George M. Hampton Sr., the board's chairman and director of the ABC Department.
However, Hampton said the ABC Board did not intend to lead the effort to have the three offending sections deleted.
"It's up to the people who have that interest to take it to the General Assembly," he said. He would recommend the laws be repealed "if we're asked for an impact statement," he said.
Virginians for Justice, an organization that lobbies for homosexuals, was unsuccessful in its campaign in the last regular General Assembly session to remove references to homosexuality in Virginia's ABC laws.
Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk, drafted a bill that would have removed all references to homosexuality in the state laws, but it lacked support, and he ended up not submitting it to the assembly.
"We cannot abide government-sanctioned discrimination against gays and lesbians or any oppressed group," said Shirley Lesser, a director of Virginians for Justice.
Under Virginia law, ABC licenses can be suspended and revoked if a licensed establishment becomes "a meeting place or rendezvous for . . . homosexuals."
Homosexuals are offended by the fact that Virginia law associates them with drug addicts, prostitutes, pimps, drunks and gamblers.
State law also bans ABC license holders from employing anyone who even has a "general reputation" as a homosexual.
Virginians for Justice said the ABC laws regarding homosexuality are unconstitutional, sexuality is not readily defined and "sexuality testing" would be impossible.
The fact that the laws haven't been enforced for more than 10 years gives the group no comfort.
"The problem is it provides a means for bar owners to discriminate against gays," Lesser said. "I have in fact seen behavior forced to be modified in the several gay bars in the area, for fear that an ABC person would be there and see gay persons kissing, hugging, whatever."
Homosexuals have been ejected from ABC-licensed establishments because of the laws. "The unwarranted expulsion of two lesbians from an Alexandria bar in September is evidence that these statutes are affecting our lives," Virginians for Justice said. "They are a painful reminder of the recent past when homosexuals were maliciously persecuted and even prosecuted."
The group fears a "reinvigoration of these statutes by an overzealous local or state figure" that could lead to "an erosion of the basic civil rights that lesbians and gays have been acquiring."
by CNB