Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in West Virginia since October 9, 2014. It was previously banned by state statute.
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On July 28, 2014, a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bostic v. Schaefer found Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Bostic allowing the ruling to take effect. As a result, on October 9, 2014, state Governor Earl Ray Tomblin announced he was ordering state agencies to act in compliance with the controlling precedent in the Virginia case. Even though West Virginia's ban was not explicitly declared unconstitutional, the Fourth Circuit precedent made it certain the state's statutory ban would be overturned. The state started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on that same day. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia officially ruled the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional on November 7, 2014.
State statutes
A state statute defines marriage between a man and a woman. In 2009, a bill that would amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the state was overwhelmingly voted down (67-30) by the House of Delegates. All 29 House Republicans voted to move the measure out of committee, along with one Democrat. The amendment was heavily supported by Evangelical groups in the state and the Family Council Policy of West Virginia. In 2010, "The Marriage Protection Amendment" was re-introduced in both the House of Delegates and the Senate. Republican efforts to discharge the measure from the House Constitutional Revision Committee and were defeated (68-30). The amendment was later defeated in the Senate.
In December 2011, Delegate John Doyle introduced a bill to legalize civil unions in West Virginia as one of his last acts before retirement in 2012. It was submitted to the House of Delegates in February 2012 and died without a vote.
West Virginia has extended hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples through a designated visitor statute.
McGee v. Cole
On October 1, 2013, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit, McGee v. Cole, in U.S. District Court on behalf of three same-sex couples and one of their children challenging the state's denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The suit named two county clerks as defendants. On November 21, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey asked the court to allow his office to defend the state's statutes, and on December 19 both he and the clerk asked the court to dismiss part of the suit. On January 30, 2014, the judge assigned to the case, U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers, dismissed the part of the suit challenging the state's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions, since none of the plaintiffs had married elsewhere, but he invited the plaintiffs to add plaintiffs that had done so and the plaintiffs said they were considering that.
On June 10, 2014, the Judge Chambers ordered a stay of proceedings until there was a ruling in Bostic v. Schaefer, a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that challenges Virginia's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples. The district judge reasoned that "because of the overlap in the issues present" the Virginia case should be decided first. His an order paralleled those in two other same-sex marriage cases in the Fourth Circuit's jurisdiction: Harris v. Rainey, a Virginia case, and Bradacs v. Haley, a South Carolina case. Following a decision in Bostic on July 28, the parties in McGee filed competing motions with the District Court on whether to allow the case to proceed. Judge Chambers on September 16 extended the stay pending action by the U.S. Supreme Court. On October 6, 2014 the U.S. Supreme court refused to hear the appeal of the ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court and the plaintiffs asked the court to rule for them based on that. He gave the defendants until October 21 to reply.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced on October 9 that he would no longer defend the suit since the U.S. Supreme Court had declined to review a similar Virginia case that had found that state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples unconstitutional. Judge Chambers ruled on November 7 that the state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional.
Legalization
On October 9, 2014, West Virginia Governor Ray Tomblin announced he was ordering state agencies to act in compliance with the recent decisions of federal courts on the unconstitutionality of same-sex marriage bans. The state started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on that same day.