Virginia votes to scrap same-sex marriage ban and lock in marriage equality
Virginia votes to enshrine marriage equality in state Constitution (Getty Images)
Virginia voters have approved Question 2, a constitutional amendment that repeals the state’s same-sex marriage ban and enshrines marriage equality protections in Virginia’s constitution.
The referendum was passing by a 56.2 to 43.8 per cent margin with 76 per cent of the vote counted. Other election-night snapshots also showed the measure ahead: NBC News results put “yes” at 56.2 per cent and “no” at 43.8 per cent with 78.2 per cent reporting, while Decision Desk HQ data had it at 57.3 per cent for and 42.7 per cent against with more than 95 per cent counted, and said the Associated Press had called the race.
What does Virginia’s Question 2 change?
Virginia’s previous ban is removed by the amendment and replaced with safeguards for legal marriages between any two adults, irrespective of sex, gender or race. It further mandates that those marriages must be treated equally under state law.
Virginia’s ban had already been unenforceable since the US Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision established marriage equality nationwide. Supporters of Question 2 argued that writing protections into the state constitution would make them harder to undo if federal precedent changes.
That concern has sharpened in the years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. At the time, 31 states still had dormant statutes and/or constitutional amendments banning marriage equality, affecting around 433,000 married same-sex couples and 305,000 unmarried same-sex couples living in those areas.
Democratic governor Abigail Spanberger signed legislation in February sending the referendum to voters.
How did LGBTQ+ groups respond to the result?
Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson welcomed the vote, saying: “At long last, one more relic of past discrimination is being wiped from the lawbooks, and now marriage equality is cemented as a foundational right in Virginia.”
Equality Virginia executive director Narissa Ramen said: “Tonight’s victory belongs to generations of Virginians who organised, advocated and fought for equality, often without knowing whether they would live to see this day.”
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