Politics & Government

Virginia Del. Mark Sickles Announces He's Gay

Recent ruling on gay marriage, comments by Republican lawmaker, prompt column in Washington Post.

Mary Ann Barton, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
Virginia Del. Mark Sickles, who is running for Congress,Ā has announced publicly thatĀ he's gay. He revealed the news in an opinion column Friday in The Washington Post titled "A marriage ruling that counts me in."Ā 

He referenced the recent newsĀ that a federal judge in NorfolkĀ had ruled the Virginia ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.

Sickles' column also comes after his recent announcement that heĀ is running for the 8th congressional District, which includes the City of Alexandria, the City of Falls Church,Ā Arlington County and parts of Fairfax County.

In his Friday column, SicklesĀ cited comments by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, House sponsor of Virginiaā€™s 2006 constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage.

Marshall, who is also running for Congress, in the 10th District,Ā recently described the ā€œLGBT lifestyleā€ as a series of ā€œlife shortening and health compromising behaviors" and said gay people were not fit to be parents.

"Hearing such caustic remarks yet again on the House floor, coupled with the overturning of our same-sex marriage ban, has motivated me to state publicly here what many close friends and family have known for decades: I am a proud, gay man," Sickles wrote in his column.

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Sickles' 43rd District in Virginia encompasses parts of Fairfax County includingĀ Kingstowne, Rose Hill, the Huntley Meadows area, NewingtonĀ and parts of Lorton located on the eastern side of I-95. HeĀ has won six elections,Ā first winning his seat in NovemberĀ 2003.

Marshall is running for the 10th District seat being vacated by longtime GOP Congressman Frank Wolf. The 10th District includes parts of Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Prince William County.

Sickles' announcement comes as he and state Sen. Adam P. Ebbin, D-Alexandria, the state's other openly gay lawmaker, vie in a crowded raceĀ with other Democrats, for the nomination to run for the Northern Virginia congressional seat of retiring Rep. James P. Moran, D-8th.

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