Sen. Mark Warner Supports Marriage Equality

Jim Burroway

March 25th, 2013

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the senior senator of the exceptionally socially-conservative state of Virginia, has posted on his Facebook page his support for marriage equality.

I support marriage equality because it is the fair and right thing to do. Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and this is the inevitable extension of my efforts to promote equality and opportunity for everyone. I was proud to be the first Virginia governor to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBT state workers. In 2010, I supported an end to the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, and earlier this month I signed an amicus brief urging the repeal of DOMA. I believe we should continue working to expand equal rights and opportunities for all Americans.

This isn’t entirely surprising, given his signing onto the amicus brief for DOMA’s repeal. But this does make him the only state-wide elected official in Virginia to support marriage equality.

Warner joins Sen.Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who also announced her support for marriage equality yesterday on her Tumblr page. On the Democratic side of the aisle, this has the feel of a mopping-up operation rather than another hard-fought victory in a long-running battle. As Rob Tisinai pointed out last week, the window is rapidly closing for those political leaders who will want their children and grandchildren to remember them as being on the right side of history while it still matters.

jpeckjr

March 25th, 2013

Evolution ends when the arguments begin!

Or, will the committee consider requests for extensions until the day before the ruling is announced?

Nathan F

March 26th, 2013

I don’t think “exceptionally socially-conservative” is an accurate account of contemporary Virginia. Demographic changes over the last several decades has made Virginia a much more moderate conservative state.

Nate Silver, for example, projects that a same-sex marriage ballot initiative would be supported by 47% of the Virginia electorate in 2012 based on its demographics, close to the middle of the other states. By contrast, Silver projects Mississippi as a much more exceptionally socially-conservative at 26%.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/how-opinion-on-same-sex-marriage-is-changing-and-what-it-means/

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