Virginia

The U.S. Supreme Court today allowed marriage case decisions from the Seventh Circuit, Fourth Circuit and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal to stand meaning that same-sex couples in five more states Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma will be able to marry – perhaps as soon as later today.

Today, the Supreme Court granted a motion to stay the freedom to marry for all Virginians achieved through a victory in Bostic v. Rainey. For now, same-sex couples like our clients Joanne Harris and Jessica Duff are once again denied the freedom to marry in Virginia and Christy Berghoff and Victoria Kidd’s marriage remains unrecognized where they live.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit today affirmed a district court ruling striking down Virginia’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the motion to intervene in Bostic v. Rainey that had been filed by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on behalf of a class of all Virginia's same-sex couples. The class is simultaneously challenging the state's marriage ban in its own case, Harris v. Rainey.