Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American politician and physician serving as the 73rd Governor of Virginia since January 13, 2018. A pediatric neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1984 to 1992. Northam, a member of the Democratic Party, served as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018 prior to winning the governorship against Republican nominee Ed Gillespie in the 2017 election.
Bill to ban LGBTQ panic defense in Va. clears final hurdle
washingtonblade.comVirginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to sign a bill that would ban the so-called LGBTQ panic defense in his state after it received final approval in the Virginia House of Delegates on Feb 26. “It’s done,” state Del.
Danica Roem (D-Manassas), the bill’s sponsor, tweeted following the vote. “We’re banning the gay/trans panic defense in Virginia.” Virginia would become the 12th state to ban a defense strategy which asserts the “discovery” of the LGBTQ identities of victims to be a cause and mitigating factor in the violence committed against them. “LGBTQ+ people are being violently harmed and viciously murdered simply because of who we are,” said National LGBT Bar Association President Wesley Bizzell in statement following the vote. “And
