Virginians will cast their votes on three constitutional amendments this year. If adopted, the second proposed amendment would remove language barring same-sex marriage from the state constitution and create additional protections for marriage equality in Virginia.
On the ballot, Question 2 reads:
“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
The Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges federally legalized same-sex marriage in the United States. But the conservative makeup of the bench, along with the reversal of decades of precedent in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that took away the federal constitutional right to abortion, has raised concerns that the Court could overturn federal marriage equality.
“This moment is not just about removing that discriminatory language from our constitution. It’s also the urgency behind protecting decisions that were granted and afforded to us by the Supreme Court,” says Narissa Rahaman, Equality Virginia’s executive director and the campaign manager for Virginians for Marriage Equality.
VME, the committee organizing in support of Ballot Question 2, is a coalition of organizations, including Human Rights Campaign PAC, Richmond LGBTQ Chamber, Family Equality, and Jews United for Justice.
If the Obergefell decision were overturned, Virginia would revert to existing state law.
“Twenty years ago, voters passed an amendment that wrote discrimination into our state constitution by defining marriage as just as between one man and one woman, and that sent a message to LGBTQ couples and families across the Commonwealth,” says Rahaman. “This amendment is truly about taking a proactive stand to say … that discriminatory language doesn’t belong in our constitution, and that we’re going to do everything that we can to protect the freedom to marry for all Virginians for generations to come.”
While his own marriage would likely not be affected if Obergefell were overturned, Albemarle County Supervisor Mike Pruitt is rallying for Ballot Question 2. He and his husband, Will Dickinson, celebrated their second anniversary earlier this year.
“We probably personally don’t need this amendment, but future generations do,” says Pruitt. “I think the threat is very real right now. … I try and focus on Queer joy a lot, but I think the threat is real and we do ourselves a disservice by not talking about that in this moment.”
Pruitt grew up in South Carolina, and vividly remembers going with his parents to vote on the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
“I stood in line at my middle school in a huge, crowded auditorium full of all my community members. … I had a little sample ballot that I was looking at in line, and the marriage amendment was on there.” says Pruitt. “More than 80 percent of our precinct voted to adopt that. And as a 13-year-old, knowing that my entire community wanted to deny a future to me was really brutal and devastating. … I want to not have moments like that in the future for our kids. I want to do the opposite.”
Dickinson, an Episcopal priest, sees amendment 2 as “not just a political conviction or a personal conviction. It’s a spiritual and religious conviction. It’s a theological conviction.”
“It’s about giving the next generation permission to imagine what their lives could be,” he adds. “As long as there are LGBTQ people who live in our Commonwealth, they deserve to be treated the same as everybody else.”
A 2023 survey for the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law found that approximately 5.9 percent of adult Virginians identify as LGBTQ.
In a 2023 survey of global opinions on same-sex marriage, Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans either somewhat or strongly favor “allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally.”
The two largest committees organizing against Ballot Question 2, Defend Virginia’s Sons and Daughters, Inc. and Virginians Against 3, are both raising funds in opposition to multiple proposed amendments. Campaign finance reports show DVSD raised $25,287 as of August 31, and VA3 received $5,865 during the same period.
Despite its name, filing records for Virginians Against 3 indicate the committee was organized to “[oppose] the marriage amendment.” The committee is affiliated with the Family Foundation of Virginia, which is an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ religious group. The Family Foundation of Virginia was included in a 2025 list of anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Opponents of the amendment argue that inclusion of both “gender”and “sex” in its wording would create broader legal ramifications. The Family Foundation is circulating flyers saying that, by using the words “gender” and “sex” separately, the amendment would add “trans ideology” to the state constitution.
Fundraising records from the Virginia Public Access Project and campaign finance reports show that supporters of Ballot Question 2 have significantly outraised opponents. As of August 31, VME had raised $242,629.
“Some folks might see marriage as just a wedding ceremony, and kind of that commitment, but it really does impact our ability to live freely and make decisions that impact our day-to-day lives,” says Rahaman. “We don’t want folks to face barriers and have to make costly decisions. … We don’t want a family to say, ‘I’ve got to go out of state to be legally recognized as a parent of a kid that I’ve had.’ We don’t want folks to lose the ability to visit a sick loved one in the hospital.”
“Constitutions are moral documents. They are the place where the community and the state’s identity lives. Something can be legally meaningless in a constitution, and it still fucking matters,” says Pruitt. “So, something being in the constitution that is morally repugnant, that is despicable to the mindset of most Virginians, is unacceptable and should be removed.”
The full text of Ballot Question 2, as well as a voter explanation, can be found at elections.virginia.gov. Early voting is underway, and runs through October 31. Election Day is November 3.
