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Virginia Question 1, Marriage Amendment (2006)
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The Virginia Marriage Amendment was on the November 7, 2006 ballot in Virginia, where it was approved. This amendment was overturned in court.[1][2]
Aftermath
U.S. District Court
The amendment was struck down as unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen on February 13, 2014.[3]
Fourth Circuit Court
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit became the second federal court to make a ruling about same-sex marriage on July 28, 2014. This decision supported the previous decision by Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen, who struck down Virginia's same-sex marriage ban earlier in 2014.[4]
In their decision, the court said:[5]
| “ | The choice of whether and whom to marry is an intensely personal decision that alters the course of an individual’s life. Denying same-sex couples this choice prohibits them from participating fully in our society, which is precisely the type of segregation that the Fourteenth Amendment cannot countenance. | ” |
As a decision made by a federal appeals court, this decision also has an impact on similar measures in North Carolina and South Carolina.
On October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear the case, thus allowing the ruling of the Fourth Circuit Court to stand and legalizing same-sex marriage in Virginia.[7]
U.S. Supreme Court
- See also: Obergefell v. Hodges
On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in the case Obergefell v. Hodges. This ruling overturned all voter-approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.[8]
Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the opinion and Justices Ruth Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each authored a dissent.
The concluding paragraph of the court's majority opinion read:
| “ | No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.[6] | ” |
| —Opinion of the Court in Obergefell v. Hodges[9] | ||
Election results
| Virginia Question 1 (2006) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Overturned Case:Bostic v. Rainey | ||||
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 1,328,537 | 57.06% | ||
| No | 999,687 | 42.94% | ||
Election Results via: Virginia State Board of Elections
Ballot wording
The ballot wording said:
"Shall Article I (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to state: "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. This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.?"
Campaign finance
Donors to the campaign for the measure:[10]
- VA4 Marriage.org: $354,135
- VIrginia Catholic Conference: $27,567
- Building a Better Virginia-Referendum Committee: $18,782
- Focus on the Family Marriage Amendment Committee: $14,686
- Total: $415,170
Donors to the campaign against the measure:
- Commonwealth Coalition Inc.: $1,399,803
- Equality Virginia Referendum CMTE: $148,337
- Total: $1,548,139
- Overall Total: $1,963,309
Related measures
Voters approved ballot measures to define marriage as between one male and one female in the following 30 states. The first such measure was in 1998, and the latest one occurred in May 2012. Bans on same-sex marriage were invalidated in the 2015 United States Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges.
- 1998: Alaska
- 2000: Nebraska
- 2002: Nevada
- 2004: Arkansas
- 2004: Georgia
- 2004: Kentucky
- 2004: Louisiana
- 2004: Michigan
- 2004: Mississippi
- 2004: Missouri
- 2004: Montana
- 2004: North Dakota
- 2004: Ohio
- 2004: Oklahoma
- 2004: Oregon
- 2004: Utah
- 2005: Kansas
- 2005: Texas
- 2006: Alabama
- 2006: Colorado
- 2006: Idaho
- 2006: South Carolina
- 2006: South Dakota
- 2006: Tennessee
- 2006: Virginia
- 2006: Wisconsin
- 2008: Arizona
- 2008: California
- 2008: Florida
- 2012: North Carolina
See also
- Virginia 2006 ballot measures
- 2006 ballot measures
- Virginia State Senate
- Virginia House of Delegates
Footnotes
- ↑ Virginia 2006 Election Results
- ↑ Pam's House Blend, "Virginia's marriage amendment proceeds," January 15, 2006
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Virginia's gay marriage ban struck down by federal judge," February 13, 2014
- ↑ USA Today, "Appeals panel strikes down Virginia gay marriage ban," July 28, 2014
- ↑ NBC News, "Second Appeals Court Strikes Down Same-Sex Marriage Ban," July 28, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Guardian, "US supreme court decision paves way for sweeping expansion of gay rights," October 6, 2014
- ↑ NPR, "Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal In All 50 States," June 26, 2015
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Obergefell v. Hodges," June 26, 2015
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Donors"
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