Today
Today, Virginians for Marriage Equality, a grassroots organization, launched its statewide campaign to pass a constitutional amendment referendum and protect the freedom to marry in Virginia’s constitution during the general election in November 2026.
The launch brought together families, faith leaders, elected officials, advocates, and community members from across the Commonwealth to celebrate the beginning of a campaign centered on freedom, family, and protecting the freedom to marry for future generations of Virginians. The morning began with an interfaith coffee hour and prayer service hosted at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Richmond where faith leaders and community members gathered to reflect on the importance of dignity, belonging, and protecting the freedom to marry for all Virginians.
“This amendment is deeply important to me as a Virginia voter and deeply personal to me as a married woman,” said Narissa Rahaman, Executive Director of Equality Virginia and Virginians for Marriage Equality committee member. “Over the next five months, Virginians For Marriage Equality will ask Virginia voters to have conversations with their friends, families and neighbors– at kitchen tables, in living rooms, on front porches– about the things that matter most to us as Virginians. Our freedoms and our values. And on November 3, 2026 Virginia voters will pass a constitutional amendment protecting the freedom to marry in the Commonwealth.”
Speakers at today’s launch included former Senator Adam Ebbin and former Delegate Mark Sickles, the longtime legislative patrons of the marriage equality constitutional amendment, as well as Virginia families and community leaders sharing personal stories about what marriage equality means to their lives.
“Marriage equality is what allows families like ours to navigate health care, school enrollment, parenting, caregiving, and all the ordinary parts of life that comes with making a home together,” said Chad Stewart, who spoke alongside his husband Blake McDonald and their daughter at Monday’s launch event. “No Virginia family should have to live under a cloud of uncertainty about whether their marriage and family will continue to be recognized and protected.”
“This amendment is about making clear that the government has no business deciding which marriages or which families are worthy of recognition,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer. “The ACLU of Virginia has been fighting for Virginians’ right to marry who they love since the landmark case, Loving v. Virginia which struck down the ban on interracial marriage. Now we are proud to carry that legacy forward by standing with our coalition partners in the fight to pass this amendment and finally enshrine the right to marriage equality in the Commonwealth’s constitution.”
“My own husband, Jason, and I have built a life together here in Virginia, just like thousands of other couples and families across the Commonwealth,” said Delegate R. Kirk McPike, Virginians for Marriage Equality Campaign Co-Chair. “Over the coming months, Virginians for Marriage Equality will be showing up in communities across the Commonwealth working hard to have conversations with voters from every corner of Virginia. Every Virginian has a place in this campaign and a place in this Commonwealth.”
Campaign speakers emphasized that while marriage equality is currently protected federally under Obergefell v. Hodges, Virginia’s constitution still contains outdated language banning same-sex marriage. In November 2006, voters passed The Marshall-Newman Amendment, also referred to as the Virginia Marriage Amendment, that defined marriage as solely between one man and one woman and bans recognition of any legal status "approximat[ing] the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage". The amendment was ratified by 57% of the voters on November 7, 2006. Although the amendment is unconstitutional and unenforceable since 2014, it remains part of the Virginia Constitution.
Virginians for Marriage Equality is a grassroots organization working to protect the freedom to marry in Virginia via a constitutional amendment referendum on the November 2026 General Election ballot. The official ballot language voters will see on their general election ballot is: Question: 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; (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?
