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House approves resolution to affirm right to marry and repeal prohibition
Summary
The House agreed to a proposed constitutional amendment to reaffirm the right to marry for adult persons regardless of sex, gender or race and to repeal language restricting marriage; advocates called it a civil-rights measure and opponents sought clarifications on conscience protections for officiants.
House Joint Resolution 3 (HJR3) — proposing an amendment to Article I, Section 15A to repeal language that barred same-sex marriage and affirm an affirmative right to marry — was presented and supported on the House floor.
Delegate Sickles (Fairfax) described the measure as restoring legal security and treating marriages equally under the law, calling it a civil-rights bill that simply ensures marriages are recognized and treated equally regardless of sex, gender or race.
Questions from colleagues focused on how the amendment would interact with religious conscience. Multiple delegates asked whether clergy or officiants could be compelled to perform ceremonies against their beliefs; proponents repeatedly said that was not the amendment’s intent and emphasized that the measure allows voters to decide the change.
The clerk closed the roll; the House recorded 67 ayes and 31 nos and the resolution was agreed to on the supplemental calendar.
