The new governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, a graduate of the Televangelist Pat Robertson's Regent University, sent an executive order to all state agencies and universities removing protection of hiring and firing of gay people. This order contradicted a standing order supported by the previous Democrat Governors. (At Right: The official seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia which Jon Stewart has dubbed the gayest state seal in America.)

This is not so shocking when you remember that Governor McDonnell attended a religious school that teaches that the world is 6,000 years old, that humans did not evolve from animals, that every word of the bible is infallible, and that all Jews and homosexuals are going to hell along with billions of other people who were not born within geographic limits of their faith.

So with the stroke of a pen the governor tried to move Virginia back into medieval thinking. Fortunately, it did not work.

Virginia has some first class colleges, and presidents from places like the University of Virginal, George Mason University, and William and Mary College wrote the governor giving him the one finger wave, saying they had no intentions of changing their policies toward gay people.

Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" and an alumnus of William and Mary spoofed the Virginia governor on national television, and a thousand students in Richmond's Virginia Commonwealth University stormed the state house in protest.

Then came the final blow that reversed the governor's prejudiced religious convictions. It turns out that contracting firm Northrop Grumman, a very gay-friendly company, is in the process of choosing either Virginia or Maryland for its cooperative headquarters. Maryland beefed up its effort to attract Grumman, and Virginia students wrote to tell the company of the Virginia governor's anti gay attitude.

Bottom line: The governor "saw the light" and withdrew his executive order. He replaced it with a "directive" which removes the power of a wrong gay people to sue, but still allows the removal from position anyone who fails to treat gay people equally. It's a sign of the times that we need laws to force us to treat people equally and decently.)

Moral: Gay people can find more support for their rights in colleges and big business than in churchmen and politicians.