WASHINGTON, July 10, 2013 —After the United States Supreme Court ruled to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act two weeks ago, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia saw an opportunity to challenge the state’s 2006 constitutional amendment that bans same sex marriage. The constitutional amendment that bans same sex marriage as well as civil unions in Virginia passed easily with almost a 60 percent vote of support in November 2006. At the time, it joined 20 other states with similar bans, a number which has grown to 30 since Virginia’s vote. The amendment had been strongly backed throughout Virginia except in the more liberal area of Northern Virginia. In the 2006...
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