RICHMOND -- Surrounded by fellow kindergarten classmates chanting "Nixon! Nixon!" on Election Day 1968, 4-year-old Adam P. Ebbin began shouting something else: "Humphrey! Humphrey!"
"I don't think I knew what it meant, but I knew I was different," Virginia's first openly gay lawmaker recalled with a chuckle.
Times and presidents have changed since that day, but Ebbin is still fighting to have his voice heard -- no small feat during what some consider the most anti-gay legislative session in state history.
"People say, 'Isn't it discouraging?' . . . and I disagree totally," said Ebbin, a Democrat whose 49th District includes parts of Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County. "I know that any time that people are going to tell lies about gays and lesbians on the House floor, that I can grab my mike and speak -- and that's really empowering."
The 2005 session has given Ebbin plenty to speak out about. The conservative-leaning House of Delegates passed measures that would make it difficult for same-sex couples to adopt children and would authorize license plates celebrating "Traditional Marriage." The adoption bill was later rejected by a Senate committee and the license plate measure withdrawn by its sponsor.
And although Virginia already has what some legal analysts consider the most restrictive anti-gay law in the nation, the House and Senate passed a bill that would write a ban on same-sex marriage into the state Constitution.
While Massachusetts and Vermont are entering the 21st century, Ebbin said, "Virginia is still struggling." Ebbin stepped to the forefront of the state's gay rights debate in early February, just before the House voted 78-18 to approve the constitutional amendment. In a passionate speech, he likened the action to slavery, the forced Trail of Tears migration for American Indians, lynchings and "massive resistance," Virginia's official effort to thwart court-ordered public school desegregation.
"Today is one of those moments for which we shall one day be ashamed," Ebbin told his colleagues. "I cannot stand by as this body continues to use gays and lesbians as scapegoats."
Supporters of the amendment have argued it is vital to preserve marriage as applying uniquely to one woman and one man, and to ward off court rulings such as one in Massachusetts that legalized same-sex marriage.
The conservative Family Foundation's executive director, Victoria Cobb, said Ebbin's remarks about Virginia's racist past were unfair, unseemly and ineffective.
In the South, openly gay legislators remain a rarity -- with one each in Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a Washington-based political action committee that contributes money to and tracks the success of openly gay candidates nationally. Out of roughly 511,000 elected officials nationwide, 285 are openly gay, according to the group.
Although interested in politics from a young age, Ebbin, a Huntington, N.Y., native, never intended to become an emblem of gay rights issues.
After graduating from American University in 1985 with degrees in political science and public communication, he went on to work in advertising and marketing before moving to Alexandria in 1989.
Ebbin's career in politics blossomed throughout the '90s, as he managed campaigns for the Alexandria City Council and worked as the Alexandria coordinator for incumbent Virginia Democrat Charles S. Robb during his 1994 U.S. Senate race.
In 2002, Ebbin was appointed by Gov. Mark R. Warner to the position of chief deputy commissioner of labor and industry. He worked at that post for six months before deciding to run for a seat in the House.
"I knew that there would be anti-gay measures that would be very difficult to turn back," he said. "But I don't think anyone anticipated, a year and a half ago, how many different ways through how many different committees people who call themselves Christians would try and marginalize us and try to go back to a time when they could deny we exist."
Ebbin's presence has been welcomed by gay rights advocates and by many of his colleagues.
"I've been here a long time, and the progress is slow -- sometimes it hardly seems to be moving at all," said Ebbin's mentor, Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax), who has served for more than two decades. "But his being here is a step forward."
Even a legislator who voted for the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage sings Ebbin's praises.
"I suppose that one of the concerns was that since he is the only openly gay member of the legislature, is whether or not that would be the only issue that he would . . . talk about," said Del. Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry County). "That clearly has not been the case. He is a very versatile delegate."
The state's leading gay rights organization says Ebbin is a powerful symbol for a group that is fighting to be heard in the conservative-leaning General Assembly.
"He brings a real voice and face for our community to the General Assembly, and that is invaluable," said Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia. "I believe it does change the debate for some people."
Ebbin and his supporters acknowledge they're not likely to change everyone's mind.
Del. Richard H. Black, who has compiled a track record as one of the most socially conservative members of the state legislature and was the sponsor of the adoption bill, said he's not trying to stamp out gay rights but is simply trying to preserve tradition.
As for his personal feelings on Ebbin, after a lengthy pause, the Loudoun Republican offered: "He's always prompt and, you know, on time to meetings." A moment later, he added, "I think he works hard."
Ebbin likes to recite a quote that appears on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial. It reads, in part: "I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed . . . institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times."
Ebbin said he takes great comfort in the quote.
"If you were a slave when you read that quote, it speaks to you," he said. "If you're a woman denied the right to vote, it speaks to you. And I think gays and lesbians can see that it speaks to them."
