‘Let’s just get the city working’: Nonprofit weighs in on Richmond’s joint social media post standing by LGBTQ+ community

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Christian, conservative nonprofit organization is calling on the City of Richmond to reprioritize after a joint social media post made in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

"I think most residents in the city of Richmond are looking for their city government to fix their water, to keep their streets safe, and to focus on the things that actually would make the city function well," said Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation.

The statement was posted to the city's official Instagram on Tuesday, March 4.

Nearly 20 LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations were included in the six-page long social media post, which was made in response to recent executive orders signed by President Donald Trump's administration.

MORE: City of Richmond stands in solidarity with LGBTQ+ organizations amid political climate

8News received the following statement from the city that elaborated on its intentions:

“The City of Richmond is proud to stand with many LGBTQ+ stakeholders and advocacy groups in expressing support and solidarity with members of these communities, as is reflected in the recently issued joint statement. That statement followed recent federal policy initiatives and executive orders, as well as subsequent legal guidance emanating from the state government, that raised significant concerns about the potential for those actions to have harmful impacts for members of the LGBTQ+ community. As we navigate the challenging issues of this moment, the City of Richmond is committed to the ideals of respecting human dignity, serving people, and working arm-in-arm with many others who share those ideals.” Julian Walker, MBA
Interim Press Secretary and Policy Advisor

James Millner, Pride Director of Diversity Richmond -- the organization that partnered with Richmond for this post -- told 8News there was more to the push behind the post.

He expanded on this idea in the following statement:

"It's no secret that the LGBTQ community is under attack," said James Millner, director of Virginia Pride Diversity Richmond. "the efforts to erase trans people from all federal documents, from from firing them, from military service to prohibiting them from being their authentic selves as they show up for work as a federal worker. The attack on trans youth for banning gender affirming care.

The statement that nearly 20 LGBTQ and allied organizations, including the City of Richmond, released is meant to demonstrate to our community, our city and to policy makers that we can and will stand up to these harmful and misguided attacks emanating from the Federal Government and that are creating ripple effects across the country.

While we are very concerned about the impacts of the Executive Orders that seek to erase trans and non-binary people from existence in the eyes of the government, we are seeing chilling effects in the private sector as companies roll back recognition of and protections for LGBTQ people by abandoning long-standing policies of inclusion.   The actions of the federal government also have fueled a wave of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric that is showing up on line and in public discourse as the rights of queer and trans people are once again open for debate.   They are also emboldening opponents of LGBTQ equality to act to openly attempt to call for the elimination of long-established rights, including the right to marry for gay and lesbian people.

These attacks have galvanized our community in ways that I have not experience in nearly three decades of queer advocacy. If the desired effect is to push us back to the margins of society, they will fail." James R. Millner II
Diversity Richmond
Virginia Pride Director

Cobb argued that Trump's victory indicates a turn in LGBTQ+ support nationally.

"I think the outcome of the national election tells you that people are done focusing on all these side issues and they actually just want functional life," Cobb said.

Cobbs told 8News that she believes there are greater things the City can focus on, such as mental health care providers that are in the private sector along with issues of homelessness, instead.

"We're spending all this energy still and we see the City of Richmond kind of doubling down on all this ideology stuff," Cobb said. "I would love to believe that they're going to focus on the things that are desperately needed in our city and not focus alongside these interest groups in partisan battles over the culture."