Fear of "gay blood" and "confused minds": Virginia Republican touts support from anti-gay preachers

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears helped make history this week when she was named the Republican gubernatorial nominee, ensuring that no matter who wins in November, Virginia's next governor will be a woman. But that win is also drawing increased scrutiny to Earle-Sears, an ultraconservative Marine veteran, and her touting of endorsements from a slew of clergy who have espoused anti-LGBTQ+ views.

The state’s first Black and female lieutenant governor has listed on her campaign website, as well as boosted on social media, the endorsements of at least four Virginia clergymen who have made anti-LGBTQ+ remarks or whose religious institutions promote anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs. Earle-Sears herself has also come under fire for anti-LGBTQ+ comments carried out in the name of religious freedom and has had to apologize to a state lawmaker for misgendering her. With public opinion polls showing that the majority of Virginians support LGBTQ+ equality and freedoms, Earle-Sears' anti-LGBTQ+ stance raises questions about her viability in a general election campaign and how she would govern if she were to win.

Earle-Sears' campaign did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Earle-Sears, now the state GOP's first Black and female nominee for governor, has since last fall touted endorsements from religious leaders in the state who espouse views on LGBTQ+ Americans that are out of step with the majority of Virginians. Craig “The Hatchet Man” Johnson, a self-described reverend, the founder and president of educational advocacy organization First Amendment, Inc, and the host of conservative radio program “The REALLY, Real, Deal,” is one such endorser.

In a 2016 Facebook post, an account with the name Craig Johnson, and with his picture as the profile’s image, posted: "The gays and their defenders always claimed that it was unfair to lump them in with pedophiles, but the slippery slope that many warned of now has the psychology racket removing pedophilia from the list of mental disorders the same way they did for homosexuality years ago.”

In another post from 2015, that same account reposted an article arguing against allowing "gay blood" to be used for transfusions in hospitals following reports that the Food and Drug Administration lifted its lifetime ban on accepting those blood donations.

“Common Sense RIP,” the account wrote at the time.

Johnson did not respond to emailed requests for comment. In the post Earle-Sears shared to X announcing his endorsement, he’s quoted as saying, “I've known Winsome for over 20 years. She still maintains the common touch. She's REAL.”

Another endorser named on Earle-Sears campaign website is Don Blake, president and chairman of the Virginia Christian Alliance. On Friday, Blake, from what appears to be his account, bemoaned in a Facebook post that “reality is no longer in fashion. The Culture says ‘ Be whatever you feel you are’ and be Proud.” He posted the comment in response to what’s described as a satirical video shared on the platform, in which a male character tells peers they want to be called Loretta and to be a woman.

The same account, in a 2022 Facebook post about an article on Gov. Glenn Youngkin addressing the state’s LGBTQ+ advisory board, also suggested that LGBTQ+ community leaders have “confused minds” while criticizing LGBTQ+ Americans for what he described as self-identifying with who they have sex with.

“It's worth knowing what the LGBT community ‘ leaders ‘ are thinking and saying about Virginia's Governor [sic],” Blake wrote. “And, it will be interesting to see how our Governor responds to this group of radicals who's whole self identity is who they have sex with. These people don't want to be identified as say a ‘teacher’ but as ‘ gay teacher ‘ or as a ‘ gay athlete ‘ or as a ‘ gay artist ‘ or as a ‘ drag queen ‘ or as a ‘ Trans ‘. Whatever?”

“And they want ‘ Special Rights’,” he continued. “I believe that God says Those who turn against Him, then they will be given confused minds. It's self evident that many have ‘confused’ minds and that some have ‘ very confused minds’.”

Another post from 2013 saw the account call the country's National Cathedral a "national disgrace" for ringing its bells to celebrate the Supreme Court decision allowing for same-sex marriage. That post also questioned whether a church can be a Christian church if it "celebrates homosexuality marriage [sic]?"

Blake did not respond to emailed requests for comments.

Minister Bill Wines and Pastor Nate Clarke are also among Earle-Sears' listed clergy endorsements. Both clergymembers lead a church — The Gethsemane Church of Christ and Oasis Church, respectively — that condemns homosexuality and transgender identity in the belief statements on their websites.

The Gethsemane Church of Christ stated on its site that "rejection of one's biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person." It has included "homosexual behavior" and "bisexual conduct" in a list of acts it considers sexually immoral, "sinful and offensive to God" and has stated that it's "imperative that all persons employed by Gethsemane Church of Christ in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality."

Oasis Church’s belief statements have a similar message. Under "Biblical Marriage," the website says marriage “has only one meaning and is clearly defined in scripture as a covenant, a sacred bond uniting one man (born a man) and one woman (born a woman) in a single, exclusive union for life."

Clarke did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Wines told Salon that he would review the request but did not provide a response.

Earle-Sears shared posts lauding Clarke and Wines’ endorsements in September 2024.

Earle-Sears’ own views on LGBTQ+ rights align with those of her endorsers. In May, she made headlines for including a handwritten note on a 2024 law making it unlawful to deny a couple a marriage license based on sex, gender or race, stating that she was “morally opposed” to the “contents of the bill.” As the president of the state Senate, her signature was required to show it had been passed into law.

When asked last month about the note, Earle-Sears denied that her comment was an indication that she was opposed to the bill.

“No, it wasn’t that,” she told 8News' Tyler Englander. “I merely wanted everyone to understand that I want that someone of faith would not be forced to perform a marriage, but a civil union, fine.”

Most recently, Earle-Sears celebrated the Supreme Court’s Wednesday decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti, which allowed a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors to stand, as a “huge victory today for common sense.”

Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Earle-Sears' Democratic rival for the governor's office, “wants to make the government your child’s parent instead of you—I won’t let that happen,” Earle-Sears wrote in a Wednesday post to X. “As Governor, I will protect parents’ rights, not infringe on them.”

Last year, Earle-Sears came under fire for misgendering Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem as “sir” during a legislative session in response to the lawmaker’s question about the number of votes needed to pass a bill with the emergency clause. Though she initially refused to, Earle-Sears later apologized after two recesses, according to The Guardian. She added, however, that she didn’t intend to upset anyone.

In May, the Jamaica-born official also spoke at the commencement ceremonies of two Virginia schools whose policies or stated beliefs deride homosexuality: her alma mater, Regent University, from which she graduated in 2003, and Atlantic Shores Christian School.

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Regent University, per its student handbook, describes "homosexual conduct" as prohibited "sexual misconduct," which it also says includes "lewd, indecent, or obscene conduct or expression.” Atlantic Shores Christian School states on its website that it believes homosexuality and bisexuality are "sinful and prohibited."

For her part, Earle-Sears’ stance on same-sex marriage has been consistent throughout her career and spans decades. In a 2004 Daily Press op-ed, published during her campaign for Congress, she wrote that “society has gone immeasurably beyond almost all standards in accommodating the homosexual community over the last couple of decades” and called for a constitutional amendment “preserving the institution of marriage to be between a man and a woman.”

Similarly, Earle-Sears staunchly opposes abortion, having written similar notes voicing moral opposition on two reproductive rights bills passed in 2024 and Virginia’s recently passed constitutional amendment enshrining reproductive freedom. She has also previously told reporters she considers abortion “genocide,” opposes it especially for Black Americans, and that she thought abortion should be illegal in all cases except to save the life of the pregnant person.

Earle-Sears recently tried to distance herself from some of those views, denying in her interview with 8News that she said she wanted to limit access to reproductive care.

For her part, Earle-Sears’ campaign also told News4 Washington in a May statement regarding her note on HB 174 that the lieutenant governor “has already shown she will always be a governor for all Virginians. She has always been open and honest with the people of Virginia about her values and her unwavering commitment to both respecting and upholding the law."