LGBTQ+ rights take center stage in VA governor’s race

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- LGBTQ+ rights are once again in the limelight in the Virginia governor’s race. 

In last week's debate, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears criticized Democrat Abigail Spanberger for her answers on whether transgender girls should be allowed to access girls' spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms.

“My opponent will not answer the question because she voted for, she voted for men nude in girls' locker rooms, in bathrooms, and in girls' sports,” Earle-Sears said at the debate. 

At the debate, Spanberger said those decisions should be left to local communities. 

“Overall, there are more votes to be gotten by opposing trans rights than there are to be gotten by favoring them, so that’s why the Republicans have focused as much as they have on trans people and their rights,” Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told 8News.

Meanwhile, Spanberger called out Earle-Sears for opposing same-sex marriage and protections for the LGBTQ+ community.

“My opponent has also previously said that she thinks it’s okay for someone to be fired from their job for being gay,” Spanberger said at last week’s debate. 

“That’s not discrimination,” Earle-Sears responded. 

Sabato said that the response from Earle-Sears was a misstep. 

“Even people who are opposed to gay marriage don't favor discrimination against gay married couples or gay people generally, so I think that is a plus for Spanberger,” Sabato said.

The latest Emerson College poll, paid for by 8News' parent company, Nexstar, found that 50% of Virginians say transgender issues are important to them when it comes to who they’ll vote for in the governor’s race.