Love wins in Virginia as voters amend the state’s constitution to protect marriage equality

Virginia voters have approved constitutional protections for marriage equality, removing the state’s unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage 20 years after voters added it to the commonwealth’s founding document.Question 2 passed with 84 percent of votes counted, according to Decision Desk HQ data, with 56 percent for and 43 percent against. The Associated Press called the race.The amendment replaces the prohibition with protections for lawful marriages between two adults, regardless of their sex, gender, or race. It also requires equal treatment of those marriages under state law.Related: Virginia is asking voters to finish the work of marriage equalityThe result adds state constitutional protection to a right same-sex couples already exercise.As The Advocate reported during the campaign, federal courts invalidated Virginia’s ban in 2014. The U.S. Supreme Court established marriage equality nationwide the following year in Obergefell v. Hodges.But the 2006 Marshall-Newman Amendment remained in the state constitution. Advocates sought to remove it and establish protections that would not rest solely on federal court precedent.Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed legislation sending the referendum to voters in February. Equality Virginia and other supporters subsequently organized a statewide campaign to secure its passage.“This is about finishing the job,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman said in a statement before the February signing.