Arlington – During a ceremony at the their annual holiday party at EatBar Lounge in Clarendon, the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance yesterday presented Del. David Englin (D-45) with their annual Equality Award for the individual who stands out for working to advance equal rights.
“When we think of a straight ally, the first name that immediately comes to mind is Delegate David Englin,” said Bess Kozlow, president of AGLA. “From the moment he was first elected, often with little support outside of the LGBT community, he has fought in the General Assembly to advance equal rights and he has been our champion and our advocate.”
“Thank you for this great honor,” said Englin, accepting the award. “We have so much more work still to do, but whatever small measure of progress toward equal rights I’ve been able to accomplish as your Delegate is built on the foundation that you have laid over the past nearly 30 years. For nearly three decades, AGLA has worked and organized to bring gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members of our community out of the shadows and into the sunshine to demand fair and equal treatment in the public square. I look forward to continuing our work together so we may move us toward that day when all people are equal in human freedom.”
Since he first took office in January 2006, Englin has been an outspoken advocate for equal rights, and he successfully delivered the only equal rights legislation to pass in the past four years, the 2007 law that secured equal hospital visitation rights for all people. Literally moments after being sworn into office, Englin was in his first legislative committee meeting fighting against the anti‐gay Marshall/Newman Amendment, which banned domestic partnerships, civil unions, and marriage for same‐sex couples. When the amendment passed the General Assembly and went to the ballot, Englin mobilized his grassroots operation against it, contributing to voters in Northern Virginia rejecting the amendment by a two‐to‐one margin, even as it passed statewide. Englin immediately authored the Marriage Equality Amendment to strike this anti‐gay language from the Virginia Constitution and has continued to be its champion in the General Assembly. While leading the long‐term fight for marriage equality, Englin continues to fight for progress on issues like nondiscrimination in housing, employment, health insurance, life insurance, and the myriad other issues affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Virginians.
Founded in 1981 as the Arlington chapter of the Virginia Gay Alliance, AGLA has grown to a membership of more than 600 members. A nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots membership organization, AGLA strives to improve the quality of life and meet the needs of the Arlington gay and lesbian community through education and leadership. For more information about AGLA, visit www.agla.org.
Delegate David Englin is Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and was recently elected to his third term in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he represents the 45th District, which includes parts of the City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and Arlington County.
For more information, visit www.davidenglin.org.
