A same-sex, Bible Belt hub
Michael Earp, left, and his husband, Shannon Lovelace, married in Roanoke one year ago on Halloween.
A towering transgender model in an ivory wedding dress strutted around the hotel conference room, where representatives of a local church had posted a rainbow flag to make clear that same-sex couples were welcome.
Caterers, venue owners and photographers at the wedding expo displayed photos of the heterosexual couples they have always served, but they said they will soon add pictures of some of their newer clients: pairs of brides and pairs of grooms.
Life has changed in quiet and dramatic ways in this relatively liberal city on the northern edge of the Bible Belt since same-sex marriage became legal in Virginia just over a year ago.
Nearly 1 in 9 marriage licences distributed in Roanoke in the first nine months of this year went to a same-sex couple, the highest of any large city in the commonwealth, according to data provided by the Virginia Office of Vital Records.
Gay activists say the numbers reflect the gay community’s deep roots in Roanoke, which were kept hidden for decades but have become more visible as the nation’s attitude toward being gay changed. But they also reflect the growing reality in a nation where same-sex marriage is legal across the land: In rural and urban areas, small towns and big cities, gay couples everywhere are embracing marriage as an institution for them.
Across Virginia, about 3,600 same-sex couples have received marriage licences since October 2014. Richmond, Norfolk and Charlottesville also have seen a relatively high percentage of licences issued to gay couples — about 9 per cent in each. In Northern Virginia — close to Washington and Maryland, places where gay marriage has been legal for longer — just 4 per cent of marriage licences went to same-sex couples, perhaps because couples who wanted to marry had done so already in other jurisdictions.
The legalization of gay marriage has spawned some resistance, such as a conservative pastor who says he is considering crossing out the “spouse” lines on Virginia’s new marriage licence forms and writing in “husband” and “wife” as a form of silent protest.
But it also has prompted the gay-friendly One Love Roanoke wedding expo, which took place at the Sheraton Roanoke Hotel about a month ago. The event was created as an act of defiance by a local caterer who is not gay but wanted to make a strong statement after hearing a wedding-hall owner say he would never allow gay couples to marry in his venue.
“Two years ago, we would have been looked upon like, ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ ” said Steve Barshinger, a 44-year-old retired firefighter who visited the expo with his boyfriend, John Correll, to explore their options in case they decide to get married. Now, Barshinger added, “people are not as afraid to say, ‘I’m going to marry the person I love.’”