Ebbin Blasts Cuccinelli for Views on Homosexuality

State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) is blasting Virginia Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli (R) for his anti-gay views.

Ebbin, the first openly-gay member of the Virginia General Assembly, responded to remarks Cuccinelli made at a debate over the weekend. Cuccinelli defended his previously-stated “sincerely held beliefs” about homosexuality — that, in the paraphrased words of moderator Judy Woodruff, “same-sex acts are against nature and harmful to society.”

“My personal beliefs about the personal challenge of homosexuality haven’t changed,” he said. “The notion that because I believe marriage ought to be protected, because I believe life begins at conception — just like hundreds of thousands of independents and Democrats — this isn’t just me, it isn’t just Republicans.”

In response, Ebbin issued the following statement today.

Ken Cuccinelli’s unapologetic and bizarre views on gay people perpetuate the worst stereotypes and make Virginia look like a hostile backwater. Labeling gay people “harmful to society” and calling homosexuality a “personal challenge” puts him out of the mainstream of Virginia thinking. It’s one thing to be prejudiced in your private life, but it’s another to use a position of public trust to promote intolerance and bigotry. As a gay person, I know how this type of rhetoric can hurt people, and I don’t think that Ken Cuccinelli understands that at all.

This debate in Virginia is especially timely since our neighbors in Maryland and DC now have marriage equality. Terry McAuliffe understands perfectly, as I do, that this places us at a competitive and economic disadvantage. That’s what this governor’s race is all about.

Cuccinelli has also been trying to overturn a federal court ruling that found Virginia’s anti-sodomy law, which outlawed oral and anal sex, unconstitutional. He says the law wasn’t intended to prosecute consenting adults, but instead served as a tool prosecutors could use in cases involving child sex predators.

Cuccinelli is facing Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Libertarian Robert Sarvis in the race for governor. The election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 5.