Virginia General Assembly rejects openly gay prosecutor for Richmond judgeship

RICHMOND — Guns, gays and organized labor.

Three outspoken champions of these hot-button issues in Virginia were on the list of people the General Assembly planned to appoint as judges this week.

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The gun-rights guy, a former Republican state delegate who has pushed for lifting restrictions on concealed weapons in public buildings, got his judgeship. So did the pro-union Democrat, another former delegate, whose grandfather organized coal miners in Southwest Virginia.

But not the Richmond prosecutor who challenged the military’s now-defunct “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, has advocated for gay marriage and is raising twins with his partner.

Virginia’s General Assembly rejected Tracy Thorne-Begland for a Richmond judgeship in the wee hours Tuesday, at the end of a 13-hour session devoted to wrapping up the state budget and appointing more than three dozen judges.

In that final legislative act, the General Assembly was consumed by a divisive social issue, just as it had been time and again this session. Some lawmakers feared Tuesday’s move would bring back unflattering national attention to a swing state crucial to the presidential race.

Del. Mark D. Sickles (D-Fairfax) was bracing for another “Rachel Maddow moment,” referring to the MSNBC host who skewered the state over a bill requiring vaginal ultrasounds before abortions.

However, conservative lawmakers insisted that Thorne-Begland’s outspokenness on gay rights disqualified him from being an impartial judge. The chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Richmond had come out as gay as a naval officer 20 years ago on “Nightline” to challenge the military’s now-repealed ban on gays openly serving in the military.

Thorne-Begland’s critics conceded that the two former delegates appointed Tuesday, like the many former lawmakers now on the bench, had taken public positions on countless issues during their political careers. Republican former delegate C.L. “Clay” Athey Jr. of Warren was outspoken on gun rights as a House member, and Democratic former delegate Clarence E. “Bud” Phillips of Southside Virginia was a supporter of labor.

But Thorne-Begland’s advocacy was different, they said, because it amounted to military insubordination and a challenge to the state constitution, which bans gay marriage and civil unions.

“He holds himself out as being married,” said Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), who is running for U.S. Senate. He said Thorne-Begland’s “life is a contradiction to the requirement of submission to the constitution.”

Thorne-Begland, 45, declined comment Tuesday beyond a statement issued via e-mail. “I look forward to continuing to serve the citizens of the City of Richmond and the great Commonwealth of Virginia,” read the statement, which also thanked his family and sponsors in the General Assembly for their support.

“He’s an outstanding lawyer and he would have been just as good a judge, and I can’t imagine any reason for his rejection other than his sexual orientation,” said Mike Herring, commonwealth’s attorney for Richmond.