Arkansas Republicans Override Governor’s Veto of Invoice Banning Medical Therapy for Transgender Youth

It was December 9, 2010. Joe ManchinThe former Democratic governor of West Virginia cast his first vote as a newly sworn in US Senator. He voted against the lifting of the discriminatory anti-LGBTQ policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell”.

He was the only Democrat who did this.

His reason to oppose the repeal of DADT?

“As a senator of just three weeks, I haven’t had the opportunity to visit and hear the full point of view of the citizens of West Virginia.”

He didn’t even bother to vote on the final bill.

This is the same Joe Manchin who began his political career in 1982 as a member of the West Virginia House of Representatives.

After nearly three decades as lawmaker, secretary of state and governor, Senator Manchin did not feel well informed enough to do the right thing and vote to protect American LGBTQ service men and women.

Fast forward to today, when Joe Manchin has been in the public sector for nearly 40 years.

On the campaign, Joe Biden stated that his top priority would be to get the LGBTQ Equality Act passed, legislation that has been introduced into Congress in various forms since the 1970s, even longer than the 73-year-old West Virginia senator in the Politics. Biden said he wanted to legally sign the equality law in its first 100 days.

There are three things that stand in the way of legislation that seven in ten Americans not only support but already believe are federal law: the filibuster, the Republicans, and Joe Manchin. Ironically, like the Republicans, Manchin is against killing the filibuster and against passing the equality law.

“Just over two months after Biden’s tenure,” reports The Daily Beast. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has taken on the role of the eternal fly in the ointment of progressive legislation. The Equal Opportunities Act is no exception. “

Make no mistake, Manchin is anti-LGBTQ. He opposes same-sex marriage (although he agrees it is a firm law) and reiterates the massive conservative campaign against transgender people, rejecting the Equality Act (in part) because, he claims, it tells local officials, who will do so does not provide “adequate guidance” to be responsible for implementation, especially with regard to students who switch between genders in public schools. “

That is not the role of legislation, that is the role of the Ministry of Education, something Manchin must certainly know.

“Privately, Manchin was just as skeptical this time around, according to those familiar, citing a massive call-in campaign organized by conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation to cut the bill. Manchin told a co-sponsor of the Equality Act that the calls to his office were “a thousand-to-one” violation of the law. “

The Beast is calling for 60 votes to be passed to pass the Equal Opportunities Act without either of them being Manchin’s “functionally impossible given the current composition of the Senate.”

This article has been updated to reflect more precisely what Manchin’s “no” vote was about.