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.
Victory in Virginia as governor signs LGBT+ protections into law
gaystarnews.comVirginia Governor Ralph Northam has signed vital LGBT+ protections into law, in an historic breakthrough for the South. It makes Virginia the 21st state, plus Washington DC, to provide comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBT+ people.
But it is the first in the South. When the new law comes into force on 1 July, it will mark the end of a long battle in the state.
