Virginia Partisans

The Virginia Partisans (short for Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club) is a LGBT-rights group in the Virginia, affiliated with the Stonewall Democrats and the Democratic Party.

The Virginia Partisans organization was co-founded in 1992 by Donald Pretzer (chair) and Adam Ebbin, now a member of the Virginia Senate, to help elect pro-equality Democrats in Virginia. Virginia Partisans started in Northern Virginia by enlisting delegates for presidential candidacies at the 1992 state Democratic convention, endorsing pro-equality candidates, and raising funds for Jim Moran's re-election in the 8th Congressional District. Since 1992, Virginia Partisans worked state-wide to raise over $100,000 which has been contributed to pro-equality Democratic candidacies.

The organization's name was proposed by Donald Pretzer for clarity in advocating LGBT equality specifically in Virginia, in contrast to pre-existing and high-profile Stonewall Democrats focused on politics in the District of Columbia and non-partisan LGBT civic groups active in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and Prince William Counties at that time were limited to candidate forums, surveys, and ratings. Partisans was chosen both to caution federal employees subject to the Hatch Act and to allude to popular resistance movements.

The group's motto is "building a broader coalition in the Commonwealth" and it has regional chapters in Northern Virginia, Tidewater, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Roanoke. Previous presidents include Ebbin, Michael Perez, Joseph Smith, Judy Moats, Kevin Medwedeff, Jim Ball, Josh Israel, Charley Conrad, Terry Mansberger, and Tiffany Joslyn. On September 28, 2013 Virginia Partisans was officially absorbed into the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Ebbin is running for the Democratic Party's 2014 nomination to succeed Jim Moran in the 8th Congressional District.