Witnesses wait to testify before House Subcommittee
On behalf of the Board of Directors and our membership, I want to thank everyone who worked to bring HB1135 to the Virginia General Assembly this year. While we understood the odds that were against us from the start, I don’t think we had any idea what a profound and awe inspiring experience moving this bill ended up being. Conversion Therapy is being dragged out into the light where it won’t long survive and today we helped put Virginia on the map as a vanguard state in the fight to end this dehumanizing and worthless practice.
I can’t say enough about our great witnesses today and at our press conference last week. THANK YOU so much Apryl Prentess, Bill Johnson and Gail Dickert, your courage and eloquence moved everyone you came in contact with. Thank you to our friends at Equality Virginia, Virginia Interfaith Center, The Gay Community Center of Richmond, People of Faith for Equality in Virginia, GayRVA, Roland Winston, the Reverends Jeanne Pupke, Robert Coats and Robin Gorsline, our wonderful sponsor Delegate Patrick Hope of Arlington and his staff and all the young LGBTQAI men and women out there who need to know that they are not alone and that help is on the way! I also want to single out our APV Public Policy Director, Victoria Bragunier who put in countless hours to get this bill ready for prime time. THANK YOU!
It is rare that a good bill’s defeat can leave me so positive, but we made a little history today and back in 2011 when Ann and Jeanne and Claire and Steph and I put APV together, that is what we planned on doing! Congratulations.
Scott Price
President, Alliance for Progressive Values
January 30th, 2014