After months of heated debate, citizens in the Commonwealth voted to approve the Marshall-Newman Amendment, also known as the "same-sex marriage amendment," in yesterday's election by a margin of 58 percent to 43 percent.
The state constitutional amendment defines the institution of marriage as solely existing between a man and a woman and means no unions other than marriage will be legally recognized in the Commonwealth for couples of all sexual orientations.
Victoria Cobb, executive director for the Family Foundation, a group which headed the movement supporting the amendment, expressed her enthusiasm upon learning the results.
"We always knew a majority of Virginians supported marriage, and our job was to get them out to the polls," Cobb said. "This issue ultimately comes down to whether we're going to define the issue as the people or the courts, and tonight the people have spoken, and we hope that this puts this issue of redefining marriage to rest."
Ken Newsome, vice president of Family Foundation, explained his beliefs in the importance of marriage as between a man and a woman.
"I think our founding fathers built this country based on certain assumptions, and one of those critical assumptions is that the family is the critical unit from which to build our society," Newsome said. "The reality is that it is with a man and a woman [that] you build the strongest families. When we talk about families ... the question becomes who is less important, the mother or the father. The reality is both are necessary for healthy families, and I think the founding fathers understood that and, in a lot of ways, would really be surprised we are even asking the questions we are now."
Despite their defeat, members of the Commonwealth Coalition Campaign, which opposed the amendment and which has welcomed support from those both in favor of and opposed to same-sex marriage, remain optimistic that gay and lesbian Virginians will receive equal protection of rights.
"[We received] more than a million votes, that was our goal," said Jay Squires, chair of the board of Equality Virginia. "That's a million people across this state who have heard us, who have listened to us and who have come to the conclusion that we matter, that our issues matter, our families matter. Every single one of us is every much a Virginian as they are."
Squires also explained that the amendment did not address many issues that face homosexual Virginians today, so the struggle for equality exists now more than ever.
"This amendment never had anything to do with our rights," he said. "It never had anything to do with our employment ability or our healthcare benefits, in terms of whether we could be fired ... We still have all these issues to fight."
Although the Virginia Senate election remained too close to call as of press time, Cobb said she feels the passage of the amendment might be indicative of the outcome of the race.
"The amendment enjoyed the support of Sen. [George] Allen, and so we obviously believe that if a majority of Virginians supported marriage, we would think they would support the candidate that supported marriage," she said.
Ultimately, many opponents of the amendment have not become discouraged by its passage.
"We have educated an amazing number of voters," Commonwealth Coalition campaign manager Claire Guthrie Gastañaga said. "We have informed Virginians, and we have made significant progress."
Cobb said she is hopeful that although the opponents of the amendment may continue to press the General Assembly, the vote of Virginians will stand.
"We feel very confident that this settled the matter," she said. "Our opponents are probably likely to be back at the General Assembly trying to demand another plate at the table, but I believe Virginians have spoken."
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