No ring? No problem! Well, almost. (Via Shutterstock)
The Virginia Senate is deliberating a bill that, if passed, would bring the commonwealth’s social mores in line with those of, say, the middle part of the 20th century. A bill repealing Virginia’s law preventing unmarried couples from living under the same roof cleared a Senate committee on Monday morning.
And even though the restriction on cohabitation hasn’t really been enforced in many decades, it’s been on the books since the end of the 19th century, when the legislators of the day made it a misdemeanor for “any persons, not married to each other, [to] lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together.”
The Associated Press reports the repeal is the work of Sen. Adam Ebbin, an Alexandria Democrat, but managed to garner a unanimous vote in the famously constricted Virginia Senate. Even the chamber’s Republican majority was ready to update things a bit:
“Are you suggesting that perhaps things have changed since 1877?” committee chairman Sen. Thomas Norment (R-James City) jokingly asked Ebbin.
It is likely that no one has been prosecuted under the law for decades, but state officials used it in the early 1990s to threaten revocation of a Norfolk day-care provider’s state license, Ebbin told the committee.
Of course, Virginia’s history on laws concerning romantic partnerships is not actually a joking matter. It took a 1967 Supreme Court ruling to strike down the state’s law prohibiting interracial marriages.
That’s not to say the prohibition on cohabitation might not have its modern-day backers, though. The Family Foundation of Virginia, a Richmond-based conservative organization, includes in its platform criticisms of unmarried and divorced households. The group’s spokesman did not reply to DCist’s request for comment, but told the AP it is “monitoring” the repeal bill.
Also, getting rid of the anti-cohabitation law would help move Virginia ahead of Michigan, Mississippi, and Florida, which are the only other states with similar statutes. And it’s always good to disassociate oneself with Florida.
