Tracy Thorne-Begland

Virginia Circuit Court appoints openly gay prosecutor to interim judgeship

Brody Levesque - LGBTQ Nation
June 15th, 2012

RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Circuit Court on Thursday appointed openly gay Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Tracy Thorne-Begland to fill one of several vacancies on the city District Court, just one month after the state’s General Assembly rejected his nomination.

Virginia lawmaker: "Sodomy is not a civil right"

Brody Levesque - LGBTQ Nation
May 18th, 2012

WASHINGTON — Virginia Republican delegate Robert Marshall, who led the efforts to derail the judicial nomination of an openly gay Richmond prosecutor, said in an interview on CNN Thursday morning that “sodomy is not a civil right.”

Marshall was defending his actions and that of fellow lawmakers and right wing christian conservative activists who opposed Tracy Thorne-Begland, who, had he been elevated to the General District Court Judgeship, would have been the first openly gay judge to serve in the state.

Virginia GOP lawmakers block judicial nomination over sexual orientation

LGBTQ Nation Staff Reports
May 16th, 2012

RICHMOND, Va. — GOP lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates, led by virulently anti-gay Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William), have blocked the judicial nomination of an openly gay Richmond prosecutor.

Tracy Thorne-Begland, a Richmond prosecutor for the past 12 years, had been nominated for an open judgeship, but the nomination was quickly decried by the conservative group The Family Foundation and Marshall, who argued that Thorne-Begland’s sexual orientation would conflict with his ability to hold up the state’s constitution.