Marriage Equality Amendment

Vote YES to protect Marriage Equality in the Virginia Constitution.

What it does

This amendment will protect the freedom for every Virginian to build a life with the person they love, regardless of sex, gender or race, and have that life recognized and respected.

Why we need it

Right now, marriage equality is protected federally, but the Virginia Constitution contains language that bans same-sex marriage. The Amendment would repeal that language.

Ballot Wording

Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?

Summary of the Legislation

HJ3. Constitutional amendment (second reference); marriage between two adult persons; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from denying the issuance of a marriage license to two adult persons seeking a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such persons. The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are required to recognize any lawful marriage between two adult persons and to treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons.

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