Virginia Voters to Decide on Constitutional Amendment Protecting Same-Sex Marriage
In early October 2026, early voting began in the US state of Virginia on constitutional referendum “Question 2,” which proposes to repeal the state’s 2006 constitutional ban on same-sex unions and enshrine marriage equality in the state’s Bill of Rights. Final voting will conclude on US general election day, November 3, 2026.
According to a report by PinkNews , if approved by voters, Section 15-A of Article I of the Virginia Constitution will be rewritten. The amendment recognizes marriage as “one of the vital personal rights of human life,” explicitly prohibits state and local officials from denying marriage licenses based on sex, gender, or race, and requires the commonwealth to recognize all valid marriages equally. At the same time, religious freedom protections are preserved: religious organizations and clergy will not be obligated to solemnize marriages contrary to their beliefs.
The constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil partnerships was passed in Virginia in November 2006 (known as the Marshall-Newman Amendment), receiving 57% of the vote. Same-sex couples have been able to marry in Virginia since October 2014 following a ruling by the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bostic v. Schaefer, and the right was established nationwide by the US Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision. However, the inactive ban remained in Virginia’s foundational legal charter, creating legal uncertainty should federal precedent ever be reconsidered by the conservative Supreme Court majority.
To place the amendment on the ballot, the Virginia General Assembly had to approve the resolution during two consecutive legislative sessions with an intervening election for the House of Delegates. Previously, similar measures had been blocked by Republicans in the state House, but after Democrats regained legislative majorities, the resolution passed in 2025 and 2026. The campaign supporting the measure is led by civil rights organization Equality Virginia. If passed, Virginia will become the fifth US state to repeal an archaic constitutional ban via popular vote, following Nevada in 2020, as well as California, Colorado, and Hawaii in November 2024.
State constitutional amendments have become a primary vehicle for securing relationship recognition amid broader debates over federal legal protections. Previously, in June 2026, lawmakers in Delaware failed to pass a constitutional amendment protecting same-sex and interracial marriages after falling short of the required two-thirds supermajority. “Uránia” has also reported on recent US Supreme Court proceedings regarding medical care for transgender prisoners and demographic surveys of the American adult LGBT population .
