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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Virginia face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Virginia since October 6, 2014, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal in the case of ''Bostic v. Rainey''. ==Law regarding same-sex sexual activity== Virginia's statutes criminalizing sodomy between same-sex and opposite-sex couples, "crimes against nature, morals and decency," were effectively invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in ''Lawrence v. Texas'' in 2003. In 2005, basing its decision on ''Lawrence'', the Supreme Court of Virginia in ''Martin v. Ziherl'' invalidated § 18.2-344, the Virginia stature making fornication between unmarried persons a crime.〔Google Scholar: (''Martin v.Ziherl'' ), accessed April 9, 2011〕 On January 31, 2013, the Senate of Virginia passed a bill repealing § 18.2-345, the lewd and lascivious cohabitation statute enacted in 1877, by a vote of 40 to 0. On February 20, 2013, the Virginia House of Delegates passed the bill by a vote of 62 to 25 votes. On March 20, 2013, Governor Bob McDonnell signed the repeal of the lewd and lascivious cohabitation statute from the Code of Virginia.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=SB 969 )〕 On March 12, 2013, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down § 18.2-361, the crimes against nature statute. On March 26, 2013, Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli filed a petition to have the case reheard ''en banc'', but the Court denied the request on April 10, 2013, with none of its 15 judges supporting the request. On June 25, Cuccinelli filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision, which was rejected on October 7. On February 7, 2014, the Virginia Senate voted 40-0 in favor of revising the crimes against nature statute to remove the criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations. On March 6, 2014, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 100-0 in favor of the bill. The bill (as amended by Governor McAuliffe's recommendations) was signed into law by Governor McAuliffe and went into effect immediately.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2014/sb14/ )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「LGBT rights in Virginia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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