For Mike Pruitt and Will Dickinson, Virginia’s marriage amendment is about couples who have yet to walk down the aisle. The Albemarle County supervisor and Episcopal priest married two years ago. Now they’re asking voters to remove the same-sex marriage ban that remains in the state constitution.
“We probably personally don’t need this amendment, but future generations do,” Pruitt told C-Ville Weekly. “Constitutions are moral documents.”
Virginians approved that ban in 2006 by 57% to 43%. Courts stopped its enforcement in 2014, but the wording survived. The state’s Department of Elections says it “would be enforceable again” without Obergefell, the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage-equality ruling.
What Virginia Question 2 Would Put in the Constitution
A yes vote on Nov. 3 would replace the ban with a right to marry for two adults, regardless of sex, gender or race. It would also require equal treatment of legally valid marriages. Lawmakers approved the proposal in 2025 and again in 2026 before sending it to voters.
“As long as there are LGBTQ people who live in our Commonwealth, they deserve to be treated the same as everybody else,” Dickinson said.
Narissa Rahaman of Equality Virginia said, “This moment is not just about removing that discriminatory language from our constitution.” She brought up hospitals. “We don’t want folks to lose the ability to visit a sick loved one in the hospital.”
Question 2 Opponents Zero In on ‘Gender’
Opponents have focused on the word gender, VPM reported, arguing it could affect sports and bathroom rules. The amendment itself addresses marriage.
“Why include gender?” former Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears asked. Elana Redfield of UCLA’s Williams Institute told VPM she doubts the language would extend beyond marriage.
Victoria Cobb of The Family Foundation argued that children need a mother and father. VPM also interviewed researcher Henny Bos, who said her research found no significant differences in children’s adjustment based on their parents’ sexual orientation.
Question 2 Money, and Same-Sex Divorce
The campaigns also entered the fall with different resources. C-Ville reported that Virginians for Marriage Equality had $242,629 through Aug. 31; opponents had $25,287 over the same period.
Nobody puts divorce on a yard sign, but equal treatment matters when a marriage ends, too. WHRO examined how marriage protections also affect same-sex divorce.
Ballot and polling info: elections.virginia.gov.
