Virginia Pastor Sues to Block Amendment Removing Marriage Definition From State Constitution. Hold the Line, With Grace.
Virginia's Question 2 would replace the constitution's definition of marriage. Pastor Ben Purves has sued, arguing required courthouse postings were never made.
The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.
Virginia voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether to remove the state constitution's definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Now a Northern Virginia pastor has gone to court arguing the question never should have reached the ballot, FOX 5 DC reported.
What Question 2 would do
The ballot asks: "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?" according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
The state's explanation says the current ban "is no longer enforceable as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015," but if the Supreme Court were to overturn that decision, the prohibition would be enforceable again. The amendment would strike the words "only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth" and replace them with language calling marriage "one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness," the department's text shows.
The current language comes from a 2006 amendment known as the Marshall-Newman Amendment, The Christian Post reported.
The pastor's lawsuit
The Founding Freedoms Law Center filed the suit last week in Prince William County Circuit Court on behalf of Ben Purves, pastor of community and member care at Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge. The complaint argues that a state law required the House clerk to send copies of the proposed amendment to circuit court clerks, who were to post a copy "at the front door of the courthouse" no later than three months before the November 2025 House of Delegates election. It says those steps were not taken, and it asks the court to declare the amendment "invalid and of no effect" even if voters approve it, according to The Christian Post.
"When we fought to pass the original Marriage Amendment two decades ago, we made sure it was done the right way, according to law," said the group's president, Victoria Cobb. "If it's now going to be changed, it needs to be done the right way, and that was not done." The group is making the same procedural argument against a separate abortion amendment, and Purves led an open letter signed by more than 400 Virginia pastors urging voters to reject both, The Christian Post reported.
Purves told FOX 5 DC, "Going back to the beginning of creation, God created marriage; he defined it; it belongs to him. It doesn't belong to us to reshape it in whatever way we would like."
The other side
Supporters of the question call the suit a last-ditch effort. Del. Kirk McPike of Alexandria, who led the effort to put the measure on the ballot, said it is about making the constitution reflect legal reality. "What Question 2 does is give Virginia voters a chance to make our constitution reflect our values by removing that discriminatory language and replacing it with an affirmative right of any two qualified people to marry," he told FOX 5 DC. Early voting runs through Saturday, Oct. 31, and the station reported that the lawsuit will not go before a judge before Election Day.
Opinion: Vote your conscience, and say it with grace
I hold to what Christians have believed for two thousand years. Marriage was not invented by a legislature, and it cannot be redefined by one. When Jesus was asked about divorce, he pointed back to the beginning: "he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife." A believer in Virginia who votes no on Question 2 is not acting out of hate. He is keeping faith with his Lord.
Let us also be honest about what this vote does and does not do. The state's own explanation says the current language cannot be enforced while Obergefell stands. Supporters want protection in case that ruling falls. Opponents want the constitution to keep saying what marriage is. Both sides should argue that difference in the open, not pretend the other is a monster.
As for the lawsuit, the pastor and his lawyers are within their rights to ask whether the rules for amending a constitution were followed. A constitution should be changed carefully and by the book. But the complaint makes claims a judge has not yet tested, and no court will hear it before the votes are counted. Christians should not stake their witness on a procedural win. They should make the case for marriage itself.
That case is made best at home. Faithful husbands and wives who keep their vows, raise their children and welcome their neighbors are a stronger argument than any ballot. Pray for Virginia, vote your conscience, and speak the truth in love to every neighbor, including the ones who will vote the other way. Clergy in nine states plan to stand at the polls as peacemakers on Election Day, as we reported in Clergy to Serve as Poll Chaplains in Nine States on Election Day. That spirit belongs here too.
