Bryer Haywood, Staff Writer
Virginians will vote this November on amending the state constitution to protect same-sex marriage rights against any future, federal-level threats — and polling indicates they will likely vote “yes.”
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill in February to put the question of same-sex marriage on the November ballot — one of four referendums Virginians will vote on this year.
Same-sex marriage is protected on the national level by the United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision over the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case.
If the Supreme Court were to ever overturn their decision, Virginia would revert to a 2006 ban on same-sex marriage written into its constitution, according to a previous report by The CT. The court declined to revisit their past ruling earlier this year.
The ballot question Virginians will vote on this November asks to remove that ban and replace it with codified legalization for same-sex marriage. Under the proposal, the right to marry would be fundamental regardless of couples’ sex, gender or race.
Over 57% of Virginians voted in 2006 to ban same-sex marriage, but support for LGBTQ+ people has dramatically grown in the last two decades.
According to recent research by the Public Religion Research Institute, 68% of Virginians support the idea of same-sex marriage, and 75% support nondiscrimination protections — which would be more than enough votes to finally ratify the amendments.
The research also says 14% of residents in Virginia identify as LGBTQ+, the highest proportion of any state in the South, where many states still have same-sex marriage bans written into their laws.
“Historically, queer people have been marginalized legislatively in numerous ways,” said gender, sexuality and women’s studies associate professor Eli Coston.
Coston mentioned how police officers used to raid gay bars and force people out of them, and said that there has been a lack of legal protections for LGBTQ+ recently.
“I think the referendum makes a lot of sense, we have a constitutional amendment on the books that bans same-sex marriage even though same-sex marriage is legal at the federal level,” Coston said.
Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision by SCOTUS in 2022, which overturned the right to abortion access, state legislatures have grappled with protecting civil rights in the face of federal protections being stripped away.
Advocacy groups in Virginia have led the charge in protecting reproductive health care access in the last bastion of the South, per a previous report from the CT.
Virginians will vote on three ballot questions in November. The other two would protect abortion rights and restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated people.
Some Republican states are preparing to redraw their district lines on the chance the Supreme Court repeals section two of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership.
Andrew Kerley contributed to this story.