This legislatively referred amendment would repeal the 2006 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage and replace it with language requiring the state to recognize marriages 'regardless of sex, gender, or race.' The current ban was rendered unenforceable by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bostic v. Schaefer (2014), which was affirmed by the Supreme Court's Obergefell decision.
Virginia would become the fifth state to vote on repealing a same-sex marriage ban from its constitution. The measure was approved twice by the General Assembly as required for constitutional amendments.
While the existing ban is unenforceable, this amendment would permanently remove the state's constitutional affirmation of traditional marriage. Christians who hold to a biblical definition of marriage should be aware of this measure.
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
— Genesis 2:24 (KJV)