Embarrassment in Loudoun County

Loudoun County, Virginia, is having a real problem with a real jerk. They're just a stone's throw across the river from us here in Montgomery County, Maryland, and we ought to be paying attention to their problem and how they are dealing with it. The Post had a summary Sunday.

Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), a longtime opponent of gay rights, is coming under increased criticism for recent comments viewed as homophobic and embarrassing to the community.

At a Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday, five of his board counterparts used personal time to chastise the Sterling supervisor for anti-gay comments. One member, Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac), apologized that Delgaudio made some of the remarks from the board dais.

At a Jan. 6 meeting, supervisors voted to expand Loudoun's nondiscrimination policy to prohibit bias on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring by the county. Delgaudio fought the change in the meeting, saying he was especially offended by language in the measure that sought protection for transgendered people. In the debate, he called the board's attempt to protect transgendered people "freaky" and "bizarre." In a subsequent newsletter to supporters, Delgaudio wrote that "if a man dressed as a woman wants a job, you have to treat 'it' the same as a normal person."

Those comments drew a sharp rebuke from the Loudoun Times-Mirror on Jan. 13. In an editorial, the paper scolded the supervisor for "sustained and unrestrained demagoguery targeting human beings." The paper called for an apology and went on to say it cringed "with embarrassment for the image of Loudoun" that the supervisor was projecting.

At the board meeting last week, other supervisors joined the criticism.

James Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said Delgaudio had "conducted himself in a manner best described in my opinion as histrionic, and his choice of words were and should have been an embarrassment to this board and to the county."

Burton challenged Delgaudio's use of the word "it" to describe transgendered people. "Regardless of how one may feel about the policy in question, there's no excuse for referring to fellow human beings as 'it,' " he said. The use of the word "it," he said, was "demeaning, insulting and dehumanizing." Loudoun Supervisor Delgaudio rebuked for anti-gay remarks

Delgaudio had issued a newsletter where he said:

“The board votes six yes, Waters and Delgaudio ‘no,’ with York abstaining, to add ’sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to the hiring of employees which means if a man dressed as a woman wants a job, you have to treat ‘it’ the same as a normal person.”

The Loudon Times-Mirror said:

Delgaudio said he stands by the statement he made in the Jan. 5 meeting when he referred to the amendment as "freaky, bizarre and fruity."

The language, he said, was aimed at what he described as a militant group of individuals.

"It's freaky because most don't think about homosexuals," Delgaudio said. "It's bizarre because they want us to think about homosexuals." Group decries supervisor's comments

In an editorial, that same paper wrote:

Further, instead of using the personal pronouns of “him” or “her” during his remarks, Delgaudio preferred to use the term “it” to describe people who might be protected by the new county guidelines.

This was sustained and unrestrained demagoguery targeting human beings.

Delgaudio saw fit to drive the bigotry home – literally -- by sending a mass e-mail to residences across his district that went on to restate the same offensive terms, such as “cross dressing freaks,” and railing against how the county might now “have to treat ‘it’ the same as a normal person.”

Leniency has been granted to Delgaudio in the past for what has been described loosely as “clownish” behavior. We often hear, “Oh, that’s just Eugene.”

Not by us. Not this time. It’s time to say, "Enough." We cringe in embarrassment for the image of Loudoun in 2010 that this projects to the outside world.

These are comments unworthy of being spoken from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors dais. 'It' is a shame, Supervisor Delgaudio

Let me point out that Equality Loudoun is pursuing this situation doggedly, with class and diligence. They are documenting everything this nut says, with quotes, newspaper articles, links to video. Delgaudio is a disgrace to whatever community he lives in. I don't know what it takes to remove a Loudoun County Supervisor from office, but I can guarantee you there are people over there looking into it.