The Virginian Democratic-controlled state senate reportedly refused to conduct business Monday until Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears apologized for calling a Democratic transgender lawmaker “sir.”
Earle-Sears had offended the legislative body by referring to Sen. Danica Roem, a biological man, on the floor of the Senate as “sir.” Earle-Sears refused to retract that designation, according to Brad Kutner, the Richmond Bureau Chief of Radio IQ.
“I’m not here to upset anyone. I’m here to do the job the people of VA have called me to do,” the Lt. Gov. said, according to Kutner.
The legislature went into recess twice over those remarks, Kutner reported.
The senate only resumed business after Earle-Sears finally offered an apology.
“We are all equal under the law … I apologize … and I would hope everyone would understand there’s no intent to offend,” Earle-Sears said, according to Kutner.
Sen. Roem is the “first and only transgender elected official” elected to Virginia’s legislature, Kutner tweeted.
The legislature appeared to be debating H.B. 964. This bill would permit “attorneys to serve as the executive director for the Board of Medicine. Under current law, the executive director for the Board of Medicine must be a physician,” according to Virginia’s Legislative Information System (LIS). The piece of legislation passed the senate Monday in a vote of 36-4, according to Virginia’s LIS bill tracking.
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