A Republican running to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor has filed a lawsuit to find out who sent a homophobic robotext referring to him as “a gay Democrat” to delegates ahead of the Virginia GOP’s nominating convention on Saturday, May 8.
The lawsuit, filed by Del. Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach) in Norfolk Circuit court, seeks $100,000 in nominal and compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against an unknown defendant, labeled “Jane Doe,” for defamation.
The lawsuit also identifies the registered user of the phone number from which the text was sent, a Minnesota-based telecommunications company called Onvoy, and asks the court to force Onvoy to reveal who paid for the robotexts.
The text sent out last week showed a photo of Davis, clad in a rainbow-colored shirt, at a PrideFest event in Hampton Roads, with text attacking Davis for supporting protections for transgender children in schools.
The text also touted one of Davis’s opponents, former Del. Tim Hugo (R-Clifton) as “the only conservative running for Lt. Governor,” and asked delegates to this year’s GOP convention to help Davis “come out of the closet” by refusing to rank him on Saturday.
Davis and Hugo are currently running in a six-person field that features Fairfax businessman Puneet Ahluwalia, Air Force veteran and defense contractor Lance Allen, businesswoman Maeve Rigler and Winsome Sears, a former state delegate.
Davis, who has been married to his wife, Chelle, a GOP activist, for 16 years, said he “unapologetically supports equal treatment for the LGBTQ community” in the lawsuit. However, the complaint argues, “his support of the community does not give an anonymous Defendant authority to send text messages to voters labeling him as ‘GAY.'”
The lawsuit says it’s unclear who sent out the text messages, although the image used in the text was previously used on a mailer from the Hugo campaign disparaging Davis as “no Republican.” The Hugo campaign has denied it is in any way associated with the robotext, condemning the messages as “ridiculous and offensive.”
“We hope the Davis campaign is able to find out who was behind it,” the Hugo campaign said in a statement to The Washington Post referencing the text.
Davis had previously criticized Hugo for employing a homophobic attack by using the photo of him in the rainbow shirt in the original mailer — which did not go as far as the subsequent robotext — saying that “coincidence only goes so far.”
Dustin Rhodes, Hugo’s campaign manager, defended its past criticism of Davis for supporting Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act and for voting to allow DREAMers, or undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children, to be eligible for in-state tuition at Virginia colleges and universities. Rhodes told Richmond-based ABC affiliate WRIC that the image was pulled from Davis’s public Facebook page.
“Accusations that it was anything else are nothing more than an attempt to distract voters from the fact that Glenn supported Obamacare expansion and voted this year to give taxpayer funded tuition to illegal immigrants,” Rhodes said regarding the original mailer from the Hugo campaign.
In the lawsuit, Davis notes that the robotexts have defamed him, writing: “Since the text message was sent, the Plaintiff has received several calls and communications from third parties, including the media that has reported on it, that the subject text message caused harm to the reputation of the Plaintiff to potential voters in various parts of Virginia so as to lower his electability and standing in the estimation of the community and to attempt to deter third person voters from associating or dealing with him.”
“If bad actions are allowed to go without repercussions, we will never see honesty, integrity, & civil discourse return to GOP politics,” Davis said in a tweet announcing the lawsuit.
Tammy Baldwin, Angie Craig, and Mark Pocan were among the Democrats named by the alleged shooter, a right-wing pastor with a history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
At least three out LGBTQ Democrats in Congress have been told their names appeared on a list kept by Vance Boelter -- a right-wing preacher suspected of shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers, killing one.
The LGBTQ lawmakers -- Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and U.S. Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) -- were among several dozen Democrats at all levels of government whose names appeared on Boelter’s alleged "hit list."
Boelter is accused of killing Minnesota Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman (Brooklyn Park) and her husband at their home on June 14, and of shooting Democratic State Sen. John Hoffman (Champlin) and his wife at their home. Hoffman and his wife are expected to recover.
In a clear jab at LGBTQ Pride Month, U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) introduced a resolution last week to declare June as "Family Month" — a move right-wing outlet The Daily Wire hailed as an effort to "reclaim the first month of summer from LGBTQ ideology."
The American family is under relentless attack from a radical leftist agenda that seeks to erase truth, redefine marriage, and confuse our children," Miller told The Daily Wire.
"By recognizing June as Family Month, we reject the lie of 'Pride' and instead honor God's timeless and perfect design. If we truly want to restore our nation, we must stand united to protect and uphold the foundation upon which it was built — the family."
The U.S. Senate parliamentarian blocked several provisions in President Donald Trump's proposed tax and budget bill, including a transgender health care ban that would have prohibited federal funds from covering gender-affirming care.
The provision seeks to block transgender people of all ages -- including adults -- from accessing transition-related care by banning Medicaid, ACA marketplace plans, and the Children's Health Insurance Program from covering the cost.
But Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who is tasked offering nonpartisan advice to federal lawmakers on Senate rules, declared that the proposed transgender health care ban violates the Byrd Rule, which requires reconciliation bills -- those cobbled together to resolve differences between House and Senate versions -- to only contain provisions that impact the budget or spending, and not any "extraneous" matters.
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