Virginia Pastor Sues to Block Marriage Amendment Days Before Nov. 3 Vote
Ben Purves of Occoquan Bible Church says the proposed amendment skipped required public notice; supporters say the change is needed to protect same-sex couples.
See where this is ›WOODBRIDGE, Va. —
A Virginia pastor has asked a state court to declare a proposed constitutional amendment on marriage invalid, less than a week before voters decide it on Nov. 3. Ben Purves, pastor of community and member care at Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge, Va., filed the suit in the Circuit Court of the County of Prince William, The Christian Post reported.
See where this is ›The case, Purves v. VBOE, was filed by the Founding Freedoms Law Center. The complaint is dated Oct. 22. It names the Virginia State Board of Elections, the Virginia Department of Elections, House of Delegates Clerk G. Paul Nardo, Prince William County Circuit Court Clerk Jacqueline Smith and the Prince William County Electoral Board.
The suit argues the amendment did not follow the state's procedure for proposed amendments. It cites Virginia Code section 30-13, which calls for proposed amendments to be published and posted at least three months before a House of Delegates election, and says that was not done before the Nov. 4, 2025, election. The complaint says those steps exist “to inform the voters before the pivotal House of Delegates election.” It asks the court to declare the amendment a violation of Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution and void if voters pass it.
“If it's now going to be changed, it needs to be done the right way, and that was not done,” Founding Freedoms Law Center President Victoria Cobb said in a statement Monday. The group makes the same procedural argument in a separate lawsuit against a proposed abortion amendment.
The marriage amendment would repeal the 2006 Marshall-Newman Amendment, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and would bar the state from denying marriage licenses to two adults on the basis of sex, gender or race. The 2006 language cannot be enforced because of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, but it could take effect again if that ruling were overturned.
Virginians for Marriage Equality, which supports the amendment, has said “a constitutional amendment is the only way to protect” same-sex couples' rights, pointing to the Supreme Court's willingness to overturn precedent in the Dobbs case. “The Marshall-Newman Amendment is still there, just waiting for federal law to change,” the group said.
Purves also led an open letter signed by more than 400 Virginia pastors urging voters to reject both the marriage and abortion amendments. The Christian Post's report did not say whether a hearing has been set; the vote is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
