In 2006, Virginia voters put a same-sex marriage ban into their state constitution.
Twenty years later, voters have chosen to replace it with protections for marriage equality.
Now that is an anniversary worth raising a glass to.
Virginians have approved Question 2, a constitutional amendment removing the old prohibition and establishing an affirmative right to marry.
For gay couples who remember being the subject of those marriage-ban campaigns, the turnaround carries a particular emotional weight.
They have spent the intervening years building homes, celebrating anniversaries and doing the wonderfully ordinary work of sharing a life.
Now their state’s constitution is getting a long-overdue update.
What Virginia Voters Approved
According to the Virginia Department of Elections, the amendment protects lawful marriages between two adults regardless of sex, gender or race.
It also requires those marriages to be treated equally under state law.
The protections therefore cover interracial marriages as well as same-sex marriages.
VPM reported that the Associated Press called the measure’s passage on Tuesday evening, with official certification still to follow.
Under the legislation authorizing the referendum, the amendment takes effect on January 1, 2027.
That gives Virginia a new constitutional starting point for the year ahead.
Why The Old Words Still Mattered
Same-sex couples can already marry in Virginia.
The Washington Post reports that a federal appeals court struck down the state’s ban in 2014, before the Supreme Court established marriage equality nationwide in 2015.
Yet the discriminatory language remained in Virginia’s constitution.
As VPM explains, supporters wanted to remove that provision and establish state constitutional protection against the possibility of federal marriage rights being reversed.
The vote therefore addresses both the words Virginia uses to describe marriage and the legal foundation protecting couples.
For husbands planning their future together, that foundation matters.
A marriage includes the joyful photographs, certainly, but also the practical commitments that stretch across decades.
It is the person you call first, the household you run together and the promise to keep showing up when life gets complicated.
A Different Answer After Twenty Years
Equality Virginia traces the old ban to the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which voters approved in November 2006.
The organization has advocated for removing that language and replacing it with an affirmative right to marry.
Responding to the result, Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson celebrated the removal of a discriminatory provision and the strengthening of marriage protections, according to LGBTQ Nation.
For readers who remember when their relationships regularly appeared on ballots, the significance needs little explaining.
Twenty years ago, Virginia voters approved exclusion.
This time, they approved constitutional recognition and equal treatment.
For the couples who have loved each other through those changing political seasons, that is a milestone worth celebrating together.
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