Del. Danica A. Roem (D-Prince William), the nation’s first openly transgender state legislator, wore her trademark rainbow scarf as she ran for office for the first time in 2017. RICHMOND — A wedding photographer and a group of Christian ministries have filed separate lawsuits against a new Virginia law that bans discrimination against lesbian, gay and transgender people — and, the plaintiffs say, forces them to violate their "core convictions." Early this year in a newly blue state Capitol, Virginia became the first Southern state to pass sweeping LGBT rights legislation that bans discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed the Virginia Values Act into law, and it took effect July 1. In a case filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Loudoun County photographer Bob Updegrove asserts that the law could force him to photograph a same-sex wedding despite his personal opposition to same-sex marriage. “The government cannot demand that artists create content that violates their deepest convictions,” Jonathan Scruggs, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious-liberty group representing plaintiffs in both cases, said in a statement. State Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria), who sponsored the Virginia Values Act and […]
