Same-sex marriage has been legal in Virginia since October 6, , following the decision of the U. Same-sex marriages subsequently began at p. Voters approved an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia reinforcing the existing laws in On January 14, , a U.
The Virginia General Assembly repealed the statutory ban on same-sex marriages in In , the Republican -controlled House of Delegates rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal the constitutional ban, despite popular public support.
In August , the Code of Virginia was amended to prohibit marriages between persons of the same sex. On February 19, the Virginia House of Delegates approved the bill, by an 81β8 vote, and on March 15, Governor George Allen signed the legislation into law, which took effect on July 1. On March 10, , the Senate voted 28β10 for a bill prohibiting civil unions or similar arrangements between members of the same sex, including arrangements created by private contract.
On March 11, the House of Delegates approved the bill 77β Governor Mark Warner issued a formal recommendation to the General Assembly to remove the provisions prohibiting partnership contracts. The House of Delegates received Warner's recommendations on April On April 21, it rejected the recommendations by a vote of 35β65 and by a 69β30 vote approved the bill prohibiting civil unions. That same day, the Senate approved the bill 27β It became law without Governor Warner's signature and went into effect on July 1.
On February 3, , following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Virginia in Bostic , the Senate voted in favor of a bill to update Virginia's statutory laws by making all references to marriage gender-neutral. The bill was sponsored by Senator Adam Ebbin and enjoyed bipartisan support. On January 28, , the House of Delegates approved a bill HB , [ 16 ] introduced by Nancy Guy , repealing provisions of the Code of Virginia that banned same-sex marriage and civil unions, in a 63β34 vote.
