Virginia
Va. Senate committee approves bill to require parent notification of ‘sexually explicit materials’
Advocates fear Republican-led efforts to limit student access to LGBTQ materials
A Virginia Senate committee on Thursday approved a bill that would require local school boards to notify parents about “sexually explicit materials” in the classroom.
The Senate Health and Education Committee approved Senate Bill 656 with state Sens. J. Chapman Petersen (D-Fairfax City) and Lynwood Lewis (D-Accomack) voting for it. The measure, which state Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico County) introduced, does not specifically define “sexually explicit content.”
The committee approved SB 656 amid concerns that Republican lawmakers in the wake of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s election and the GOP regaining control of the Virginia House of Delegates would try to limit public school students’ access to LGBTQ-specific information. Democrats control the Senate by a 21-19 margin.
The Loudoun County School Board last month upheld Superintendent Scott Zigler’s decision to remove “Gender Queer: A Memoir” from the system’s high school libraries.
The Fairfax County School Board last fall removed “Gender Queer: A Memoir” and another LGBTQ-themed book, “Lawn Boy,” from the district’s high school libraries after a group of parents complained. Officials later returned the books to the shelves.
Youngkin has named Elizabeth Schultz, a former member of the Fairfax County School Board who vocally opposed LGBTQ rights, as the Virginia Department of Education’s Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The Republican governor’s first executive order after he took office on Jan. 15 ended the “use of so-called critical race theory” (which is not taught in Virginia schools) and other “divisive concepts” in Virginia public schools. The same Senate committee that approved SB 656 on Thursday also tabled a bill that would have codified the directive into law.
Virginia
McPike wins special election for Va. House of Delegates
Gay Alexandria City Council member becomes 8th LGBTQ member of legislature
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike emerged as the decisive winner in a Feb. 10 special election for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria.
McPike, a Democrat, received 81.5 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Mason Butler, according to the local publication ALX Now.
He first won election to the Alexandria Council in 2021. He will be filling the House of Delegates seat being vacated by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria), who won in another Feb. 10 special election for the Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by gay Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria).
Ebbin is resigning from his Senate next week to take a position with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration.
Upon taking his 5th District seat in the House of Delegate, McPike will become the eighth out LGBTQ member of the Virginia General Assembly. Among those he will be joining is Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who became the Virginia Legislature’s first transgender member when she won election to the House of Delegates in 2017 before being elected to the Senate in 2023.
“I look forward to continuing to work to address our housing crisis, the challenge of climate change, and the damaging impacts of the Trump administration on the immigrant families, LGBTQ+ Virginians, and federal employees who call Alexandria home,” McPike said in a statement after winning the Democratic nomination for the seat in a special primary held on Jan. 20.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, has served for the past 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and has remained in that position during his tenure on the Alexandria Council. He said he will resign from that position before taking office in the House of Delegates.
Virginia
Spanberger signs bill that paves way for marriage amendment repeal referendum
Proposal passed in two successive General Assembly sessions
Virginians this year will vote on whether to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Friday signed state Del. Laura Jane Cohen (D-Fairfax County)’s House Bill 612, which finalized the referendum’s language.
The ballot question that voters will consider on Election Day is below:
Question: 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?
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is a Republican, in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
A resolution to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment passed in the General Assembly in 2025. Lawmakers once again approved it last month.
“20 years after Virginia added a ban on same-sex marriage to our Constitution, we finally have the chance to right that wrong,” wrote Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman on Friday in a message to her group’s supporters.
Virginians this year will also consider proposed constitutional amendments that would guarantee reproductive rights and restore voting rights to convicted felons who have completed their sentences.
Lieutenant Gov. Ghazala Hashmi on Monday opened Equality Virginia’s annual Lobby Day in Richmond.
The Lobby Day was held at Virginia’s Capitol and was open to the public by RSVP. The annual event is one of the ways that Equality Virginia urges its supporters to get involved. It also offers informational sessions and calls to action through social media.
Hashmi, a former state senator, has been open about her support for the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups. Her current advisor is Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman, and the group endorsed her for lieutenant governor.
Hashmi historically opposes anti-transgender legislation.
She opposed a 2022 bill that sought to take away opportunities from trans athletes.
One of the focuses of this year’s Lobby Day was protecting LGBTQ students. Another was protecting trans youth’s access to gender-affirming care.
Advocates spent their day in meetings and dialogues with state legislators and lawmakers about legislative priorities and concerns.
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