Virginia is known for being the home state of many different presidents, for being one of the original 13 colonies, and for being the capital of the Confederate during the Civil War. The state is also one that isn’t as friendly towards LGBT rights as many would like. Fortunately, the state is moving towards being more accepting, a fight that is led by the state’s two Democratic Senators.
Virginia was one of the first states to ever pass a legal amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage. The Code of Virginia, which serves as the state’s constitution, was amended in 1975 to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The Virginia State Senate voted to ban recognizing same-sex marriages that were performed out of state in 1997. The bill passed the House and was signed into law on March 15. In 2004, the Senate and House passed a bill prohibiting the creation of civil unions or any other similar arrangement between same-sex couples. The governor attempted to block this, but the veto was overridden.
Finally, in 2006, voters passed the Marshall-Newman Amendment that banned all forms of same-sex marriage, civil union, and any other type of formal relationship that was designed to be similar to marriage. In effect, Virginia had blocked same-sex marriage not just once but several times.
At that time, most gay and lesbian realtors would tell LGBT people to be wary of a move to Virginia, especially to the more rural areas where people tended to be more conservative. However, things have changed since then. By March of 2014, half of all Virginians polled said they supported same-sex marriage. After the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in the case of Bostic v. Schaefer, same-sex marriage became legal in the state. Marriage licenses were first issued on October 6, 2014.
Even though the state has a history of being very restrictive to its LGBT citizens, there have been a few surprising decisions the state legislatures have made over the years. For example, in 2007, the House and Senate both unanimously approved a bill that gave same-sex couples the right of access to their partners in the hospital, something usually reserved for family members only. Governor Tim Kaine had attempted to provide benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees, while Arlington Country tried to offer domestic partners access to employee health benefits. Both ultimately failed.
The state does not offer any protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity outside of public employment, although Arlington County and the city of Alexandria do.