California's same-sex marriage move worries Virginia

As one of the prime movers in exurban Spotsylvania County behind a 2006 state ballot amendment that outlawed gay marriages, Moore determined years ago that "same-sex marriage is something that goes against every principle I believe in. Everyone knows that California's a bellwether state, so of course I'm terribly concerned about whether this will spread."

For the moment, that possibility seems unlikely. This is Virginia, still staunchly socially conservative despite its growing flirtation in recent years with electing Democratic officeholders. Virginia has a new Democratic senator, Jim Webb, and governor, Tim Kaine, but its legislators passed a bill outlawing gay unions in 2004 -- a move strengthened by the 2006 constitutional ban.

The ballot amendment won with a 57% statewide majority, and in Spotsylvania County, Moore's hard work paid off with a 66% vote for the prohibition.

"Virginians feel they've settled this issue," said Victoria Cobb, president of Family Foundation of Virginia, a Richmond-based social conservative activist group that pressed for the ban.

Although the Family Foundation does not endorse in elections, Cobb predicted that "as we see more situations like this in California, conservative voters will recognize that decisions on Senate and presidential races have to be made by them. We feel it ups the ante."

Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, a gay rights group that opposed the 2006 same-sex-union ban, cautioned that despite Virginia's tradition of voting for socially conservative causes, its voters have been more independent-minded in recent elections. Even as voters recoiled against gay unions in 2006, Mason said, they also unseated GOP Sen. George Allen.

Despite their unease, Moore and other Virginia opponents of same-sex marriages said Tuesday that they hoped the celebratory images beamed from Los Angeles and San Francisco would galvanize Virginians into working for socially conservative candidates.

But despite a history of supporting Republican presidential candidates, even Moore admitted she was still "on the fence" about John McCain, who opposed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that was proposed by social conservatives but defeated in both the House and the Senate in 2006.