Va. officials investigate Loudoun County schools over trans student in locker room

John Reid, a longtime conservative gay radio talk show host in Richmond, secured the Republican nomination for the Virginia Lieutenant Governor’s Office this week, becoming the first openly gay to be appointed to that state’s statewide office.

Reed secured a nomination after Fairfax County manager Pat Herity, his sole rival in the Republican primary, and dropped out of the race this week due to health reasons.

Herity’s decision to withdraw from the race confirmed what political observers call the GOP candidates for Virginia’s three statewide contests in the November general elections.

The current Lieutenant Colonel of Virginia is a black woman, Winsam Earl Sears, has won a Governor’s GOP nomination without a GOP opponent. Hispanic man Jason S. Miyares is running for reelection as Virginia Attorney General without a rival in the GOP. The gay lead is a GOP candidate for GOP lieutenant Governor.

Reed faces one of Li’s six Democratic candidates whilst competing in the June 17 Democratic primary.

Blade spoke with Reed on Tuesday. Below is a partial transcription of that interview.

blade: Do you have any messages you have to LGBTQ voters in Virginia, including Democrats?

Lead: Well, what I say to gay voters looking for and considering candidates is that I was publicly out of my closet as a gay man long before Donald Trump said I didn’t care about this kind of thing, in a very difficult room where people weren’t accepting gay men.

And long before a polite society said this was okay. So, in the 90s I came out on TV and said on October 11th – it was a national come-of-out day. It was probably 1996 or 1997. I started with a TV station in 1994. So it’s been a few years from now.

I came out and said I never knew you would become gay when your news anchor comes out nationwide. And everyone was appalled. How can I say this? You shouldn’t say that. So, I’m a Republican, but I know that some people in the LGBT community are reflexively hostile towards Republicans.

I took that step in public, but I think I helped many change minds within Republicans and Central Virginia. I spoke at a meeting on Republican staff and lawmakers and I don’t think I’m doing the right thing by being hostile to gay marriage.

We talk about the importance of family. Republicans talk about the importance of family and the importance of marriage as a fundamental component of society. And gay marriage is purely positive. Is it the Bible for people following traditional Christian theology? no. But is it good for our society to place people in a committed relationship? I think so.

When we were having a debate over gay men in the military, I said there was no reason why I was qualified in the military and could meet all the criteria that everyone else was asked to meet. Or serves as a growl in active service. Why do we rule out those people?

And they were very unpopular positions within the Republican Party.

blade: The campaign website says it supported private unions of same-sex couples. I might have missed seeing it, but I did not see any expression of support for gay marriage. Are you saying you now support a full same-sex marriage?

Lead: You know, you’re right. There is a distinction. And I think marriage is completely legal. Private Unions – If you want to sign documents in court, that’s great. If you want to marry, and the church wants to marry you, if you find a church or religious leader and a group you want to bless it, that’s what I want to do with my partner now.

I hope we will get married in the near future. And getting married in the church as a Christian is very important to me. So, that’s interesting. Most people don’t bring out that distinction. I am grateful that you are portraying distinctions. I support both.

blade: Did you say you worked for members of Congress? Who can you say that was?

Lead: George Allen, Senator of Virginia. And of course you and me – I know you’ve covered so many stories like this. But that was a very difficult position. When I started with Senator Allen, he had a very libertarian attitude about this. [Virginia State] No constitutional reform was necessary. There was no need to go down that path.

And of course, President Bush – George W. – was very assertive during the 2004 campaign. And the problem continues to bubble up and you know we’ve been caught up in this amendment to the Virginia Constitution, which banned gay marriage until the Supreme Court decision. And I didn’t support it. And I voted for my boss, Senator.

blade: Your website shows that your support for the gay community is not as good as the trans community.

Lead:Yeah, I hate this. But I think that focuses on our current trans issue is where the gay rights movement has jumped over sharks. And I think we’re losing the support of working so hard for decades to build with the average person. And I am baffled that Elizabeth Burch and others have become president, and that former leaders of the human rights campaign had a president. I don’t know what their stance is today.

It reminds us that all of us who spoke about the issue of gay rights are focused on normalcy and meet all the criteria that everyone else has encountered. All the sleazy things that were said about gays being pedophiles and grooming children – that was simply not true.

And I think we’ve stumbled into a very unfortunate and dangerous territory. I think there you almost untook the average person with drag queen story hour and the claims of embracing the provocative books and provocative media that the average person says. – Quoting normal without quotes – and now you are pitching an agenda that we disagree with and you are really offensive about it.

And that’s really a difference. I know you’ve covered it for a long time. I don’t know if you agree to this. Today we think the gay community is selling a very different political agenda than it was 20 years ago. And I think we should restrain ourselves and be careful about it. And I think we are in a dangerous territory with the general population. And I’ll remind you about it.

blade: Online reports show that there are as many as six Democratic candidates competing for the position of lieutenant governor in the June 17th Democratic primary. Do you know any of them?

Lead: I’m familiar with most of them. Some are from the Richmond area. And I believe they are all very supportive of gay rights. I think that’s a good thing. My reasons for challenging them as a Republican – and I think there are other places where there is a lack of proper leadership and good judgment. So I don’t think gay issues will become real issues. Trans issues may be the point of competition in race.

But I don’t think about the gay issue – and I draw a distinction between the two – I don’t think it’s going to be a real division with those Democrats[ic] Candidate.

bladeSo, unlike when you were a news anchor on TV, in your radio talk show, did you have more opinions and commentary?

Lead: That’s correct. There were many opinions and no scripts. So I was able to talk about how I traveled to Miami and went to Washington. I went to the Kennedy Center and shared some of my life and lifestyle with the audience as needed.

blade:Now, thank you for this interview.

Lead: I’m happy to talk to you. One of the reasons I called you is that a political consultant has always told me not to talk to anyone who might oppose you. And I refuse it. I have already lived as a gay man for 30 years. And it was very difficult. And I want to make it easier for the next generation to live their true self. … Call you and speak to you for advice from all those people who say they will never do that.