Virginia District Attorney Will Fight Gay Marriage Ban

News, Rights

Recently elected Attorney General of Virginia, Mark Herring, announced last Thursday that he will not support the state ban on gay marriage. Two pending cases challenge the Virginia law, which he believes to be unconstitutional. Herring has garnered both praise and criticism for his position.

Mixed Reactions to Herring’s Position

Just twelve days after starting his term as state Attorney General, Democrat Mark Herring made his unexpected announcement. He describes his position on the subject by saying that for many Virginians, this is not an abstract issue but a real one, affecting everyday life. In the past, he says, Virginia has been on the “wrong side” of cases involving civil rights, and he does not want to make that same mistake again. The state ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, as it violates “equal protection under the law” of the 14th Amendment. Although Attorney General of Virginia, he believes he has a duty to uphold the Constitution of the United States over state laws.

Herring admits he supported the 2006 amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia to ban gay marriage but has since had a change of heart.

Reactions to Herring’s position have been mixed. Opponents include the conservative nonprofit Family Foundation of Virginia and many Republicans, including William J. Howell, speaker of Virginia House of Delegates. Howell said that Herring was setting a bad precedent, and that his position showed a “disregard” for his obligation to defend the laws of Virginia.

Supporters include gay rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and many Democrats, including Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who took office earlier this month.

Two Norfolk Couples Challenge Virginia’s Gay Marriage Ban

Two pending cases will challenge Virginia’s law. In the first case, plaintiffs Timothy Bostic and partner Tony C. London were denied a marriage license in July 2013 at the Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk’s office. Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard in a Norfolk federal court on Thursday.

In the second case, Carol Schall and partner Mary Townley have a child together that Townley gave birth to in 1998. Because Virginia law does not allow Schall to adopt her, she lacks basic parental rights.

Both couples were legally married in 2008 in California.

Virginia Would Be the First Southern State to Allow Same-Sex Marriage

Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in seventeen states, with others pending. Bans on gay marriage were recently struck down in lower courts in Utah and Oklahoma, and they may soon join the other seventeen. A landmark Supreme Court case last summer struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Across the county, the movement for same-sex marriage has been gathering momentum. Herring’s support of gay marriage could turn the tide and result in Virginia being the first state in the South to allow gay marriage.