VIRGINIA: State Sen. Adam Ebbin Intros Bill To Repeal Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Openly gay Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin today introduced a bill to repeal that state's constitutional ban on marriage. There's a long road ahead, however.

To repeal the 2006 amendment, legislation would have to pass the General Assembly two times with an intervening election, then would go on the ballot in the next succeeding general election. If it won first passage in the 2014 session, the measure would have to again pass the legislature in the 2016 session after the next state election, meaning the earliest the measure could go before voters would be November 2016. Even gaining first passage in the General Assembly could be the longest of longshots, particularly in the House of Delegates. A companion bill to Ebbin’s has been introduced by Del. Joseph Morrissey Richmond). In the 2013 session, a similar measure by Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) failed to make it out of a House subcommittee. There was no companion bill in the state Senate.

After being approved overwhelmingly by both chambers of Virginia's legislature in 2006, the ban was approved by 57% of voters.