Failed Virginia gov. candidate announces campaign against marriage equality
Winsome Earle-Sears (Wikimedia Commons)
Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is launching a statewide campaign urging voters to reject two proposed constitutional amendments that would protect marriage equality and abortion rights in Virginia.
Dubbed the “Life and Marriage Tour”, the effort she announced last week comes ahead of this year’s midterm elections, when Virginians will vote on measures designed to safeguard both rights in the state constitution. Virginia’s state constitution still contains language from 2006 that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.
Earle-Sears made opposition to LGBTQ+ rights a central theme of her unsuccessful 2025 gubernatorial campaign, repeatedly attacking Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger over transgender rights.
During a 2025 televised debate, Earle-Sears also argued during a debate with Spanberger that refusing to hire someone because they are gay is not discrimination, although when asked about these comments later, she claimed she had misspoken and said she meant to say she herself had not personally discriminated against gay people in that regard.
She ultimately lost the race to Spanberger on 4 September 2025 by 13 percentage points.
The former lieutenant governor has also previously made her opposition to marriage equality explicit. In 2024, when she was constitutionally required to sign legislation codifying same-sex marriage into Virginia law, Earle-Sears attached a note stating that while she respected her constitutional obligation, she remained “morally opposed” to the bill. The legislation was intended to remove Virginia’s now-defunct same-sex marriage ban from state law in case the US Supreme Court overturns its landmark 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
Justice Clarence Thomas publicly suggested in 2022 that the Court should reconsider precedents including Obergefell, prompting concerns that marriage equality could one day face renewed legal challenges. If approved by voters, Virginia’s constitutional amendment would add another layer of protection for same-sex couples regardless of future federal court decisions.
In an email to her supporters announcing the tour, Earle-Sears said her goal is to encourage Virginians to “carefully consider these proposals and vote NO on both amendments,” The Washington Blade reports.
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