Falls Church Va. Chamber of Commerce Blasts Cuccinelli's Anti-Gay Letter

The Chamber of Commerce of Falls Church, Virginia has voted to pass a resolution condemning Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's infamous letter to state colleges and universities last month in which he instructed them that their employment policies protecting gays and lesbians were not legal. In a vote of 10-1, with 2 abstentions, the chamber blasted Cooch's ruling on economic grounds.

The Falls Church News-Press reports:

According to the wording of the resolution, the Chamber board "voices its strong opposition to recent action by the Attorney General of Virginia Kenneth Cuccinelli to advise Virginia's colleges and universities to remove protections against discrimination from lesbian and gay persons...Removing such protections will have adverse economic consequences for Virginians by undermining efforts at mitigating the impact of the current recession through energetic efforts at new economic development and the recruitment of major corporations to the state.


The resolution adds, "We believe that many new and relocating businesses will choose to avoid Virginia because this posture on discrimination will have a profoundly chilling effect on prospective employees, contractors, vendors and customers."

The Falls Church Chamber of Commerce is the only chamber in the commonwealth to take such a stand, as it was back in 2006, when it approved a resolution condemning the Marshall-Newman Marriage Amendment, which not only bans same-sex marriage in Virginia, but bans any contractual agreements that attempt to convey any of the rights of marriage to same-sex relationships.

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