While the Supreme Court of the United States has held in Obergefell v. Hodges that marriage no longer requires both genders, male and female, many states with laws that define marriage in that way are wrestling with how to handle their state domestic relations code.
On February 5, 2018, the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee defeated three bills to repeal Virginia's statutory provisions that define marriage as being between a man and a woman. On a vote of 8-7, eight Republican senators voted for a motion that had the effect of defeating the bills. Many constituents made their views known, encouraging delegates to keep marriage in the Virginia Code, and it clearly made an impact.
The Virginia Family Foundation's attorney Josh Hetzler spoke before the Committee addressing natural marriage. Watch the Committee hearing HERE beginning at 19:10 for his statements.
Marriage that does not require a man, or a woman, can present a variety of gender inequities that can be unhelpful to families. I have written about this with Sandra Alcaide in our article Obergefell: A Game-Changer for Women. Marriage continues to be an important aspect of state strength, and some state legislatures may uphold what they can of their code for that purpose.
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