Virginia General Assembly gave first passage to HJ586, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and equivalent legal recognition

On February 26, 2005, the Virginia General Assembly completed the first passage of HJ586, a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would define marriage as solely between one man and one woman and prohibit the Commonwealth or any political subdivision from recognizing any comparable legal status for same-sex couples. The House of Delegates agreed to the conference committee report by a vote of 79-17, and the Senate agreed by a vote of 30-10 on the same day. The proposed amendment stated that "only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions," and further barred any legal status for unmarried individuals that would approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage, or any other union, partnership, or legal status assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage. HJ586 incorporated House Joint Resolutions 584 and 615, and its proposed text was identical to companion Senate Joint Resolution 337 as passed. The resolution was enrolled and signed by the Speaker and Senate President, then assigned as Chapter 946 of the 2005 Acts of Assembly. Under Virginia's constitutional amendment process, this first passage required a second passage by a subsequently elected legislature before the amendment could be submitted to voters for ratification.

Updates

2006-02-25 — Virginia General Assembly completed second passage of HJ586/SJ337 as Marshall-Newman Amendment [1]

In the 2006 regular session, the Virginia General Assembly completed the second of two required legislative passages of the constitutional amendment (passed identically in HJ586 and SJ337), clearing it for a statewide ballot as the Marshall-Newman Amendment.

2006-11-07 — Virginia voters ratified the Marshall-Newman Amendment by approximately 57 percent [2]

Virginia voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment at the November 2006 general election by approximately 57 percent, writing the same-sex marriage and civil union ban into the state constitution.

2014-02-13 — Federal district court struck down Virginia's Marshall-Newman Amendment as unconstitutional [4]

U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled in Bostic v. Rainey, 970 F. Supp. 2d 456 (E.D. Va. 2014), that Virginia's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. She found that marriage is a fundamental right subject to strict scrutiny and that Virginia's arguments failed to meet that standard. The ruling was stayed pending appeal.

2014-07-28 — Fourth Circuit affirmed, striking down Virginia's same-sex marriage ban [4]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled 2–1 in Bostic v. Schaefer, No. 14-1167, that Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage impermissibly infringed on the fundamental right to marry, affirming the district court. Judge Henry Floyd wrote the majority opinion. The Supreme Court stayed enforcement on August 20, 2014, and denied certiorari on October 6, 2014, at which point the Fourth Circuit ruling took effect.

2015-06-26 — Obergefell v. Hodges rendered Virginia's Marshall-Newman Amendment unenforceable [3]

The U.S. Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), that the Constitution requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, superseding the Marshall-Newman Amendment.