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.
LGBTQ youth resources information removed from Va. state website
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration in May removed information about services for LGBTQ youth from a state website after a conservative news outlet published stories about it.
The Washington Post on Thursday reported Youngkin’s administration on May 31 removed information that included “a live-chat online support group” for teenagers from the Virginia Department of Health’s website after the Daily Wire raised questions about it.
The article further notes Youngkin’s administration since he took office in January 2022 has removed information about abortion and other issues from the website at least three times “without consulting its own subject-matter experts.” Youngkin has faced criticism from LGBTQ activists in Virginia since he took office.
The Republican has proposed revisions to guidelines for transgender and nonbinary students that his predecessor, Democrat Ralph Northam, signed into law in 2020.
