RICHMOND, Va. – In response to reports by major news outlets that Donald J. Trump won yesterday’s presidential election, ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer released the following statement:
“The results of yesterday’s election are clear, and so is the threat to our democracy that a second Trump presidential term represents. The ACLU's deep bench of legal and advocacy experts uniquely positions us to protect civil rights and civil liberties, so during the previous Trump administration, we filed 434 legal actions – including blocking the first Trump Muslim Ban and challenging Trump’s separation of immigrant children from their parents.
“Virginia will not be immune to a second Trump presidential term. One in four Virginians are immigrants or the children of immigrants. More than a quarter million Virginians are LGBTQ+ adults. And at any given time, millions of people in the Commonwealth need reproductive care.
“They’re just some of the Virginians who would be disproportionately affected by President Trump and Project 2025’s hateful, extreme proposals. We’re ready to fight any attack on these rights with the full force of the ACLU of Virginia – in the courts, in the capitol in Richmond, and in the streets. As anti-democracy forces have evolved, so has the ACLU. Already, we’re working on amendments to Virginia’s constitution that would protect marriage equality, reproductive freedom and voting rights – and that’s just the start.
“We’re committed to creating a just Virginia that ensures freedom and dignity for everyone in the Commonwealth. But to get there will take all of us. We find strength in the seven states where voters moved decisively yesterday to protect reproductive freedom, and in the thousands of Virginians who never stopped pushing for a future where our hard-won rights are safe from the whims of politicians. After all, despair and resignation are not a strategy: we must all be as relentless and disciplined in protecting our civil rights and liberties as an authoritarian administration will no doubt be in trying to dismantle them.
“We’ll need you in this fight in the days and months ahead. We’re not new to this, and neither are you. Only with our full collective power can we safeguard our civil rights and civil liberties to create a Virginia that’s truly for all. We’re proud to be in this work – together.”