Virginia State Sen. Adam Ebbin announced this week that the constitutional amendment he is sponsoring this legislative session in Richmond appears to be failing. “I am carrying this bill to repeal the ban on same-sex marriage and replace it with a fundamental right to marry. It will face strategic opposition in the House, where despite having the votes on the floor to pass, the Speaker assigned an identical House Amendment, carried by Delegate Mark Sickles, to a heavily conservative subcommittee where it was killed at 7 a.m. with minimal discussion or debate,” he reported.
His amendment, Ebbin said, “Does a simple, but momentous thing. Our Constitution, the foundational document of the oldest Democracy in the western world, currently only once deprives citizens of a right. The right to marry the person you love. If passed, it removes that stain, and permanently enshrines this right, safeguarding it for Virginians regardless of their sex or gender, providing a fundamental dignity and equality to our family, friends, and neighbors and reflects the will of a supermajority of Virginians.”
“Additionally,” he added, “As the amendment was made defunct by the 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, and it is important for our Constitution to reflect the law of the land. I hope the House leadership can be convinced that voters deserve a chance to consider ratifying this amendment at the polls in November.”
