Lady Gaga and Walmart
What do pop stars, mega-retailers and public policy have in common? Don’t ask the Family Foundation.
When two Democratic legislators announced last week that they will try again to pass a law prohibiting discrimination against gay state employees, Family Foundation spokesman Chris Freund sneered that the party “got their marching orders from Lady Gaga.”
If Freund was trying to get his name in The Washington Post, he succeeded. If he was trying to be absurd, he was equally successful.
It would make just as much sense – more, actually – to argue that lawmakers are getting their marching orders from Walmart. The retailer adopted a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in 2003, years before anyone had ever heard of the flamboyant rock star.
In fact, the two lawmakers could make the case that they are getting their marching orders from a majority of Virginia’s top employers. Corporate giants in Virginia that have anti-discrimination rules include Norfolk Southern, Volkswagen of America, Northrop Grumman and Sentara Healthcare.
Those businesses reflect public opinion in Virginia, according to several polls taken in the commonwealth. In the most recent, from 2008, 87 percent of respondents said gay employees should enjoy workplace protections against discrimination.
Doesn’t that mean the legislators are getting their marching orders from, well, their constituents?
If that’s the case, just who is giving orders to the five legislators, including Del. John Cosgrove of Chesapeake, who routinely kill similar proposals every year in a subcommittee vote?
It’s pretty clear they’re listening to a minority led by the publicity-loving spokesman for the Family Foundation. Given his penchant for outlandish quotes, it’s hard not to wonder if Freund is getting some coaching from You Know Who.
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