Longtime LGBT Ally Englin to Retire

Zack Budryk
April 4, 2012

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Read More: General Assembly, Politics

Virginia Delegate David Englin (D-Alexandria) announced Monday night that he will not seek a fifth term in 2013, and admitted to an extramarital affair.

In a statement announcing his retirement, Englin said that he and his wife Shayna had recently separated. “I will leave political life to put Shayna and [son] Caleb first and to focus on rebuilding what is and always was most important to me: my marriage and my family,” Englin said. “I am deeply sorry for hurting the people I love the most and for letting down so many others who put their faith in me.”

Englin has long been an ally of the Virginia LGBT community during his time in the House of Delegates; in 2009, the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance gave him their Equality Award, and he sponsored the 2007 law that provided equal hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples.

“When we think of a straight ally, the first name that immediately comes to mind is Delegate David Englin,” said AGLA president Bess Kozlow at the 2009 Equality Awards ceremony. “From the moment he was first elected, often with little support outside of the LGBT community, he has fought in the General Assembly to advance equal rights and he has been our champion and our advocate.”

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Zack Budryk, a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, has been writing since age 10 working towards a career of advocacy-based investigative journalism.