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As a result of writing this column, I frequently get
letters from people in distant lands, such as California, New York and New Jersey,
asking my opinion about Virginia in general and Williamsburg specifically. Most
of these queries come from progressive types who are considering moving,
retiring to or setting up small businesses in the area. Almost all of them
have, at one time or another, visited Colonial Williamsburg. Fortunately or unfortunately,
Virginia’s past and present are not swirling about in some vacuum. Contrary
to a recent Gazette article which reported that only 1% in a national survey
knew why on earth we’re celebrating Jamestown 2007, most non-Southerners I’ve
heard from know their Virginia history. Hence most questions I get involve
such things as the dominance of conservatism in the state, race relations,
women in the workplace, gay rights and, believe it or not, the anti-abortion
debates and budget shenanigans in the state legislature. The last has been the subject
of nationwide ridicule and wonderment, and not least of all because of
several rather caustic articles and editorials in the New York Times. But the main problem one faces
in answering questions about Virginia is that people are all too aware of her
social history. They know of the ugly race relations that slavery spawned.
They know about the segregation wars and Prince Edward County, and they
wonder what the lingering effects of all that are. They know that black women were
denied admission to the University of Virginia’s graduate school because of
the state’s Jim Crow policies. They know that no women were admitted to UVA’s
undergraduate programs until as late as 1970 and that Virginia Military
Institute refused to admit women until forced to do so by the Supreme Court
in 1996. They know also that Virginia waited over 30 years to ratify the
Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. They know too about the legal high
jinks in the 1967 case of Loving vs. Virginia. This involved an interracial
couple who, though legally married in Washington, D.C., were arrested as soon
as they set foot in Virginia and thrown in jail because of the state’s
abominable anti-miscegenation laws. Well, you might say, all this
belongs to the past. Things have changed. Attitudes have improved. But have
they? Or are we simply looking for new targets of discrimination? Because of damning editorials
in the Washington Post and other papers across the country, many now know
that the Virginia legislature in its last session resurrected its
antediluvian mucky mind-set and passed the most restrictive law in the nation
relative to legal contracts between homosexual partners. The effect of this was to evoke
strong retaliatory reactions in the gay community. Organized by a group
called Virginia is for Haters, there is now a nationwide movement afoot to
boycott Virginia and Virginia products. The question, of course, is whether
the legislation passed overwhelmingly in the General Assembly represents the
views of most Virginians toward gays. And there may be good reason to
suspect that it does. While
Philadelphia, New York and other cities are conducting extensive ad campaigns
to lure gay visitors and their wealth, there is this from Williamsburg. Just a few weeks ago a law
student at New York University wrote to one of Williamsburg’s award-winning
bed and breakfasts, informing them that, as a result of the boycott, he and
his partner would not be visiting the area.
The response from the co-owner
was reported initially in a gay DC newspaper, the Washington Blade. What
follows is an excerpt from, though not the totality of, the reply: “It is time for us and the
lawmakers to stand up to you and your homosexual deviants. Throughout
history, the forces of evil have attempted to destroy the family unit.
Communism, Hollywood, World governments and now homosexuals have all tried to
exterminate the family. The state passed those laws to protect the citizens
of Virginia. You do not understand and appreciate that we are in God’s hands.
You and your demons love and care for nothing good. You only further the work
of destruction of this great country. Keep your deplorable, sadistic life to
yourself. We in Virginia could not be happier if you and all your homosexual
militants boycott this wonderful state. You know what that means, there won’t
be any of you in this state! Boycott away.”
While the other co-owner of the
bed and breakfast maintains that their establishment has been welcoming gays
since they opened, the point is that extreme reactions on both sides are
destructively ruinous. In addition, virtually the same arguments were made by
earlier regressivists who would have preserved slavery, segregation and male
superiority in the Virginia repertoire of social mores. So what do you say to those who
ask you about Williamsburg and Virginia? Can you assure them that the
exclusionary vilification that now is being applied to gays has disappeared
in the cases of blacks, women or any other group that has fought for equality
and justice? Perhaps not. On the other hand, thanks to
the Supreme Court, strides toward racial and gender equality have been made, despite legislative
obstructionists and those who pander to the status quo. What a shame it is,
however, that Virginia’s reputation, for all her rich history, has fallen
once again to the ax of bigotry and insularity. |
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lewleadbeater.com Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved
email: LWL@lewleadbeater.com |
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