Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional

On Monday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s February ruling which found Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional . The court stayed

its own ruling pending any possible appeals to the Supreme Court. You can read the full opinion here.   

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld our District Court victory and has affirmed that laws prohibiting marriage for gay and lesbian couples are unconstitutional. The court has said that loving couples like our plaintiffs, Tim Bostic & Tony London and Carol Schall & Mary Townley, are entitled to the same basic rights and protections as every other American, and they cannot live one more day as a second-class citizen.

Hollingsworth v. Perry, the AFER-led challenge to California’s Proposition 8, was the first lawsuit in which a federal court of appeals ruled in favor of marriage equality. Today's decision also paves the way for West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to strike down their marriage bans as those states are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.