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.

Effective July 1, 2020, there is a state-wide law protecting LGBTQ persons from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit.

[1] 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.

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.

[5][6] 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.

The constitutional amendment also prohibited the Commonwealth of Virginia and its political subdivisions, such as counties and independent cities, from creating or recognize any legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals, such as domestic partnership benefits.

[14] On July 28, 2014, the Fourth Circuit ruled 2–1 in favor of upholding the lower court's decision to strike down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage.

On March 3, 2020, Governor Ralph Northam signed into law a bill formally repealing the defunct statutory ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions.

[27] On February 5, 2007, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 97–0 in favor of a bill that would extend hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples through a designated visitor statute.

[29] On April 20, 2011, the State Board of Social Services voted 7–2 against rules that would have prohibited discrimination in adoptions "on the basis of gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, family status, race, color or national origin."

Members cited the advice of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that the rules under consideration violated state law.

[33] In February 2021, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill to ban taxpayer dollars from going directly to religious organizations that discriminate against LGBT individuals within adoption placements.

[34] Effective on July 1, 2020, Virginia law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in all areas, including employment.

[41][42] On March 4, 2020, Governor Ralph Northam signed into law a bill that would allow localities to enact their own non-discrimination protections against sexual orientation and gender identity.

[43] In May 2024, the Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill on defining bullying that would have included and encompassed both sexual orientation and gender identity.

In 1991, a federal judge declared the ABC's ban on gay bars unconstitutional in the case French Quarter Cafe v. Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

[61] In July 2023, the Virginia Department of Education passed explicit policies that includes banning bathroom access and pronoun usage for transgender individuals within all schools and classrooms.

[62] In early 2023, Glenn Youngkin's office removed two LGBTQ youth initiatives, Queer Kid Stuff and Q Chat Space, from a Department of Health webpage after the Daily Wire contacted the state regarding them.

The creed simply states, "That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society.