GOP Candidate Declares ‘That’s Not Discrimination’ When Pressed on Her Opposition to Gay Marriage

Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, current Lt. Gov Winsome Earle-Sears, raised some eyebrows with comments on gay marriage during Thursday night’s debate against Democrat Abigail Spanberger.

DC News Now covered the debate on Friday morning. Sunrise on the Hill anchor Cory Smith asked national political reporter Julia Manchester about the debate.

“Julia, last question we’ll ask you. We know Winsome Earle-Sears wants this race fought on the cultural battlefield. Let’s listen to what she had to say about LGBTQ issues, specifically marriage inequality,” Mills said, before playing a clip:

Spanberger: My opponent has previously said that she does not think that gay couples should be allowed to marry.
Earle-Sears interrupted: That’s not discrimination.
Spanberger continued: [Earle-Sears] said that she is morally opposed to same-sex marriage.
Earle-Sears added again: That’s not discrimination.
Spanberger: My opponent has also previously said that she thinks it’s okay for someone to be fired from their job for being gay. That is discrimination.
Earle-Sears: That’s not discrimination.

“So, Winsome Sears saying her stance on marriage equality is not discrimination. What did you make of that passage during the debate?” Mills followed up.

“Well, that’s another line that’s been talked about in the hours and the day after the debate. Obviously, a lot of LGBTQ advocacy organizations, a lot of Democrats criticizing that response,” Manchester replied, adding:

Look, I think Abigail Spanberger is trying to paint Winsome Sears and present her as someone who is very far, too very right-wing, culturally to the right. You know, saying that about marriage, about same-sex marriage, and that discussion probably won’t play well for Winsome Sears in Northern Virginia, where you have a lot of liberal voters and also for a lot of swing voters in Virginia who could be fiscally conservative but socially liberal.

But, you know, I think it goes to show how the broader culture wars in this country over some of these issues that we thought were already discussed or litigated, you know, 10 years ago when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage—we’re now seeing those issues surface with this latest round of the culture wars, and we’re seeing that in many ways Virginia is ground zero for that.

Virginia’s statewide races have been roiled by a scandal engulfing Democratic AG candidate Jay Jones, who was revealed to have sent text messages joking about murdering a Republican politician.

Watch the clip above via DC News Now.