{"id":1056493,"date":"2025-10-10T12:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1056493"},"modified":"2025-10-10T12:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:19:07","slug":"watch-winsome-earle-sears-says-criminalizing-same-sex-marriage-is-not-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/watch-winsome-earle-sears-says-criminalizing-same-sex-marriage-is-not-discrimination\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Winsome Earle-Sears Says Criminalizing Same-Sex Marriage \u201cIs Not Discrimination\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"449\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1050776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png 1101w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=300,132 300w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=768,337 768w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=1024,449 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At last night\u2019s gubernatorial debate, Winsome Earle-Sears was called out for her opposition to same-sex marriage. Sears <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpanbergerForVA\/status\/1976638109807698132\">said<\/a> that was \u201cnot discrimination.\u201d She then doubled down, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpanbergerForVA\/status\/1976638109807698132\">saying<\/a> her support for someone being fired from their job due to their sexual orientation is also \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/akRAHhgIpW0?si=u40pEFAtpmvCAb-R&amp;t=16\">not discrimination.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Earle-Sears will not be a governor for all Virginians, Abigail Spanberger has made clear she will always stand up for Virginians\u2019 fundamental freedoms and will ensure Virginia is a welcoming, affordable place for everyone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A reminder: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/2025\/01\/16\/virginias-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-may-have-been-rendered-moot-but-remains-in-the-state-constitution\/#:~:text=By%202016%2C%20a%20year%20after%20the%20Supreme,2023%2C%20showing%20support%20in%20Virginia%20at%2071%25.\">71%<\/a> of Virginians support same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In response to Earle-Sears\u2019 homophobic comments, <\/em><strong><em>DNC Spokesperson Albert Fujii released the following statement:&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWinsome Earle-Sears is too extreme for Virginia. Her homophobic comments at last night\u2019s debate are disqualifying and prove once again how out of step she is with Virginians. Virginians deserve a leader who will ensure Virginia is welcoming and affordable to everyone \u2014 and that champion is Abigail Spanberger. The DNC will keep fighting tooth and nail to ensure Abigail Spanberger wins big in November \u2014 the stakes could not be higher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At last night\u2019s gubernatorial debate, Winsome Earle-Sears was called out for her opposition to same-sex marriage. Sears said that was \u201cnot discrimination.\u201d She then doubled down, saying her support for someone being fired from their job due to their sexual orientation is also \u201cnot discrimination.\u201d While Earle-Sears will not be a governor for all Virginians, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1056493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WATCH: Winsome Earle-Sears Says Criminalizing Same-Sex Marriage \u201cIs Not Discrimination\u201d - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/watch-winsome-earle-sears-says-criminalizing-same-sex-marriage-is-not-discrimination\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-10T16:19:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1101\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jared Carmeli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jared Carmeli\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/watch-winsome-earle-sears-says-criminalizing-same-sex-marriage-is-not-discrimination\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/watch-winsome-earle-sears-says-criminalizing-same-sex-marriage-is-not-discrimination\/\",\"name\":\"WATCH: Winsome Earle-Sears Says Criminalizing Same-Sex Marriage \u201cIs Not Discrimination\u201d - 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