In the case Leonard v. Commonwealth, 296 Va. 479 (2018), a transgender inmate was seeking a name change. Inmates seeking a name change must establish good cause, which then permits the court to make a merits-based decision at a hearing. If an applicant alleges sufficient facts, taken as true, then the court must find good cause. The applicant stated that she was transgender and that a name change would psychologically benefit her. The lower court denied her application without scheduling a hearing for lack of good cause.

An unmarried but long-term lesbian couple had a child together. The non-biological mother never attempted to adopt the child. After several years, the couple split, and the biological mother retained custody. The non-biological mother sued, claiming that her constitutional rights were violated, as she should legally be considered a parent due to her close relationship to the child.

In Doe v. Doe, 222 Va. 736 (1981), the appellee, the child’s father and stepmother, had permanent custody and sought adoption of the child because the appellant-mother was in a lesbian relationship in the same household that the child visited in. The lower court granted the adoption and severed the appellant’s parental rights, stating that her lifestyle would cause detrimental harm to the child.

Article I, Section 15-A of the Virginia Constitution, known as the Marshall/Newman Amendment, limits marriage to the union of one man and one woman. It also barred same-sex couples from marrying in Virginia and prohibited recognition of same-sex marriages that were performed in other jurisdictions.

The plaintiffs in Bostic v. Schaefer, 760 F.3d 352 (4th Cir. 2014), were two same-sex couples (one unmarried and seeking a marriage license, one married and seeking legal recognition) who sought to overturn Virginia’s prohibitions against same-sex marriage.

Sexual battery is defined and classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor under the Code of Virginia. A person commits this offense if they sexually abuse another individual by force or intimidation, without consent, if they engage in sexual abuse against one person more than once, or against multiple people within a two-year period, or if they commit sexual abuse while holding a position of authority over the victim. Sexual abuse includes acts of molestation, arousal, or gratification through intentional touching of a victim’s intimate parts or of material covering those parts.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is directed to create model policies for local school boards on the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools. These model policies must reflect evidence-based best practices and address a range of issues, including compliance with nondiscrimination laws, ensuring safe and supportive learning environments, and protecting students from bullying and harassment.

Health insurance carriers are barred from discriminating against individuals based on gender identity or transgender status in the provision of health coverage. Health plans must cover services without imposing restrictions, additional costs, or exclusions that treat transgender individuals differently from others. Carriers are required to treat covered persons consistent with their gender identity and may not deny coverage for health services ordinarily available to one sex simply because an individual’s gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth.

As implemented under The Virginia Values Act, Virginia law prohibits local government entities, including departments, agencies, and boards, from engaging in employment discrimination on a broad range of protected grounds. These grounds include race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy and related factors, such as age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and military status.

Virginia law on the property rights of married persons establishes that each spouse retains full and independent control over their own property, both real and personal, as though unmarried. A married person may acquire, use, manage, and dispose of property free from claims arising solely from the debts or liabilities of the other spouse. Neither spouse has automatic rights to the possession, profits, or use of the other’s property during marriage, and protections ensure that creditors cannot reach one spouse’s assets to satisfy the obligations of the other.