Early voting has begun in Virginia and my wife and I have voted along with a friend that we gave a lift to. It’s nice to be able to pop into the county office and vote usually without waiting in line. I encourage anyone who doesn’t like waiting in line to vote early if you can.

This year Virginia has three amendments to the state constitution on the ballot. The one I want to concentrate on here is question 2.

This is what was on the ballot:

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; and 

(iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?

It’s not surprising that my wife and I voted “yes” for this. This would explicitly protect our marriage. Now, I know that some people are thinking, “But, why does this matter? The Supreme Court struck down any same-sex marriage bans.”

It’s true. They did. It’s the reason Lauri and I decided to get married when we did. 

However, the ban that Virginians put into the state constitution in 2006 still explicitly prohibits state recognition of same-sex marriages. It’s currently not enforceable but if the Supreme Court ever overturns the decision they made in 2015 — the Obergefell decision — my marriage would be in legal limbo and could conceivably make us legal strangers in the eyes of the state. It’s not clear what the legal status of existing marriages would be but it seems likely that it would prevent the state from recognizing new marriages even though there is a statute on the books that says it will. The state constitution would likely override the statute. I’m sure there would be legal battles fought over this and I can’t predict how they would turn out but if we pass this amendment then we can avoid the entire problem should Obergefell ever be overturned.

This isn’t me just being a worry-wart. Clarence Thomas has invited challenges to Obergefell, and this Court has demonstrated that it is willing to overturn longstanding precedent. Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision that had stood for nearly 50 years. So I don’t think it is unreasonable to worry about what happens to my marriage if Obergefell is ever overturned.

 This is why it is so important to get this out of the state constitution and explicitly protect our marriages.

But it does more than protect same-sex marriages. It prevents the state from banning marriage based on gender or race and it requires equal protection for all marriages. Virginia used to prohibit interracial marriage and it was a Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia that ended that ban. This amendment would prevent that sort of ban from ever happening again. And, the great irony is that if Obergefell is at risk then Loving could be at risk in a court where precedent doesn’t carry much weight so Thomas could be putting his own marriage at risk.

Voting yes for this amendment protects far more than just same-sex marriage. It also sends a clear message about the kind of place we want Virginia to be.

If you live in Virginia, I urge you to vote “yes” on Question 2.

Some may see this and think I’m some leftist crazy woman, but these questions are about the fundamental rights of people. Supporting the rights of people is about the most American ideal I can think of.

With that, I’ve said enough. Get out there and vote and take a friend with you!