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Va. Gays Mad After One of Their Own Denied Judgeship
The Christian Diarist ^ | May 16, 2012 | JP

Posted on 05/16/2012 7:57:31 AM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST

Every news story I’ve read about Tracy Thorne-Begland reports that he was denied a state judgeship by Virginia’s House of Delegates because he is openly gay.

But that’s a lie.

Thorne-Begland, a Deputy Commonwealth Attorney for the city of Richmond, was voted down by a 33-to-31 majority of the Virginia House because he is a gay activist.

The chamber’s conservative Republicans expressed concern that the nominee for a seat on the General District Court in Richmond would transmogrify into a judicial activist.

And they almost certainly were correct.

They need look no further than California where Proposition 8, a voter-approved amendment to the state’s constitution that prohibited same-sex marriage in the Golden State, was struck down by federal Judge Vaughn Walker.

Walker retired after his ruling. He subsequently disclosed that he was gay and that he and his same-sex partner had been together for quite some time.

The gay jurist had an obvious conflict of interest, as his ruling made it possible for him and his manfriend to marry. Yet he did not have the ethics, the integrity, to recuse himself from the case.

Is there any reason to believe that Thorne-Begland would have been a less activist judge than Walker, who kept his homosexuality on the down low until the Prop. 8 case fell into his lap?

I think not.

Indeed, Thorne-Begland came out of the closet nearly 20 years ago when he brazenly challenged the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The Navy was kind enough to give the former fighter pilot an honorable discharge.

The Virginia barrister could have been discreet about his sexual orientation, quietly raising the twins he adopted with his same-sex partner.

But Thorne-Begland decided to be a homosexual activist, working with the Human Rights Project, as a spokesman for their “Coming Out Project,” and serving six years on the board of Equality Virginia, a group promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender causes.

Thorne-Begland tried to put to rest fears of conservative lawmakers in the commonwealth’s House of Delegates that he would take his homosexual activism to the General District Court.

“My decisions will be guided by, and be faithful to, the constitutions, the laws, and the case authority of the commonwealth and theUnited States,” he wrote, in a letter toDel. David Albo, Chairman of the House of Delegates’ Courts of Justice Committee.

Of course, Vaughn Walker offered similar assurances when he was under consideration for the federal district court seat he occupied at the time he issued his highly controversial ruling declaring that same-sex couples have constitutional right to marry.

By denying Thorne-Begland a judgeship,Virginia’s House of Delegates has ensured that the gay activist won’t get an opportunity to follow Walker’s example.


TOPICS: Government; Politics; Religion
KEYWORDS: blogpimp; homosexual; judgeship; religion; virginia
Media accounts scurrilously portray the 33 Virginia Delegates who voted against Thorne-Begland as bigots.
1 posted on 05/16/2012 7:57:32 AM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST
Thorne was in A-6s, not fighters and was the clown that blindsided his command by appearing on Nightline to announce his faggotry. By this, he demonstrated poor judgment and zero loyalty.

So he didn't get the judgeship? BFD. There's an abundance of lawyers in VA, some of whom are not perverts nor social justice activists. Thorne has no business anywhere near a Constitution.

2 posted on 05/16/2012 8:05:48 AM PDT by Jacquerie (No court will save us from ourselves.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST
Yeah they are bigots, they turned down Mr. Thorne DASH Begland not because of homophobia but HYPHENphobia /s
3 posted on 05/16/2012 8:14:34 AM PDT by Impala64ssa (You call me an islamophobe like it's a bad thing.)
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To: Jacquerie
Lawyers are certainly not an endangered species anywhere in Virginia, plus we have about 180,000 of them in just Fairfax county.

Think about it ~ America's richest county also has the most lawyers AND the greatest average lifespan.

Life is good when you don't need to work at a real job!

4 posted on 05/16/2012 8:18:05 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

They are such a small percentage of the population, yet they dictate their wishes and expect to be granted privileges not given to (or expected by) the rest of the population and expect everyone else to kowtow to them! I’m so sick of it!


5 posted on 05/16/2012 8:20:47 AM PDT by MomofMarine
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

6 posted on 05/16/2012 8:24:34 AM PDT by sunny48 (America, home of the offended)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST
. . . raising the twins he adopted with his same-sex partner.

That in itself ought to be reason enough to put this guy--and all his enablers--in jail.

7 posted on 05/16/2012 8:24:52 AM PDT by madprof98 ("moritur et ridet" - salvianus)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

I believe the Virginia Constitution says that marriage is between a man and a woman.

So, I guess it might be asserted that appointing a gay person to the bench would be unconstitutional.


8 posted on 05/16/2012 8:27:16 AM PDT by RexBeach (Mr. Obama Can't Count.)
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To: Jacquerie

I distinctly remember when Thorne came out. He and his butt buddy decided that the time was not right to sit together in church - they would just wait for the heat to die down.

Too bad, Tracey. Move to San Francisco if you don’t like it here. Better yet, try Riyadh.


9 posted on 05/16/2012 8:27:16 AM PDT by tgusa (gun control: deep breath, sight alignment, squeeze the trigger .......)
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To: Jacquerie
"Thorne has no business anywhere near a Constitution.

Don't worry - he hasn't been near one in years!

10 posted on 05/16/2012 8:34:40 AM PDT by In Maryland (Liberal logic - the ultimate oxymoron!)
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To: muawiyah

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND?


11 posted on 05/16/2012 8:46:49 AM PDT by Jacquerie (No court will save us from ourselves.)
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To: tgusa

A shipmate of mine was the squadron OPS Officer. In humor typical of Naval Aviation, a Marine A-6 squadron sent a dozen black roses. The card said, “Bomb a hundred bridges and no one calls you a bridge bomber. S*ck one C*ck and everyone calls you a . . . “


12 posted on 05/16/2012 8:54:58 AM PDT by Jacquerie (No court will save us from ourselves.)
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To: Jacquerie
Every federal agency has a team of lawyers in the departmental General Counsel's office. We also have large numbers of courts in DC. On top of that you have lobbyists, and most of their staff people are lawyers.

This place has an absolutely tremendous amount of opportunity for lawyers to get ahead ~ as lawyers, or regulators, or just as staff people doing real work.

As the Obamas show you every day, you can be a lawyer and never do a thing related to court.

We ended up with the greater part of the lawyers, and the lifespan that goes with that trade.

13 posted on 05/16/2012 8:57:19 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST
As the article points out, he is a gay activist. Had he been person who believes in applying the law fairly and good judicial practices and just happens to be gay, he could have stood a chance. We don't need activists anywhere near our political sphere.
14 posted on 05/16/2012 9:08:59 AM PDT by Clock King (Ellisworth Toohey was right: My head's gonna explode.)
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To: muawiyah

The more lawyers you get, the poorer the country becomes.

More money and time being spent on private legal issues and court cases. Costs go up because of course that is passed onto consumers, and built into the costs of items for the future day they are sued.


15 posted on 05/16/2012 9:13:49 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: muawiyah

I shouldn’t be surprised. DC and environs are the New Rome.


16 posted on 05/16/2012 9:15:04 AM PDT by Jacquerie (No court will save us from ourselves.)
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To: Jacquerie

A former squadronmate of mine was the CO. He was NOT a happy camper.


17 posted on 05/16/2012 9:30:05 AM PDT by tgusa (gun control: deep breath, sight alignment, squeeze the trigger .......)
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To: tgusa

Getting a late night phone call telling you that one of your JOs is not only a homo but telling the world about it while in uniform can’t be fun.


18 posted on 05/16/2012 9:41:12 AM PDT by Jacquerie (No court will save us from ourselves.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

19 posted on 05/16/2012 9:42:37 AM PDT by dfwgator
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator

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