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"Mr. Deeds Does Not Support Gay Rights"

10:02 AM, Sep 10, 2009 • By JOHN MCCORMACK
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A 1999 statement from Creigh Deeds's spokesman in the Staunton Daily News Leader:

Republicans have challenged Deeds' 1994 vote on a budget amendment that would have prohibited extending state insurance benefits for homosexual partners of faculty members at state colleges and universities. Deeds voted against it.

"But that was a meaningless vote," Worthy said. "This was an unrelated addition to the budget. Mr. Deeds does not support gay rights. There is no law that says that gay partners can get health insurance."

That same year Deeds took out a full page ad declaring his opposition to "special rights" for gays, and in 2006 he voted for an amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Deeds now calls that vote "a mistake."

As evidence of Deeds's evolution on gay rights, however, in 2007 he did support the right of same-sex couples to ... get gym memberships at UVA. How progressive! From the June 21, 2007 Washington Post:

Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), who represents Charlottesville and has been lobbying U-Va. to extend the gym benefit to gay couples, applauded McDonnell's opinion.

"It accurately reflects the law," Deeds said. "There are other matters you would have to revisit by changing state law, but not gym benefits."

As the Post noted, it was then-attorney general and alleged Christianist zealot Bob McDonnell who actually issued the ruling allowing this benefit to extend to same-sex partners.

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