It is the first time that a southern state has had a voter-approved prohibition¹ on gay marriage overturned.

 

The ruling will not apply pending² a possible appeal. Same-sex marriages are legal in 17 US states, most of them in the north-east, and Washington DC.

 

Such unions have been approved either through legislation, court rulings or voter referendums.

 

 

The ruling by Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Norfolk followed a legal challenge on same-sex marriage by a gay couple.

 

The judge agreed with them that the ban infringes⁴ on（侵害） their constitutional rights and their fundamental freedom to marry. 

 

Many expect the case - or one like it - to go all the way to the US Supreme⁵ Court, the BBC's Beth McLeod in Washington reports. 

 

Virginia is the first state in the old confederacy（联盟） - a group of southern states that are traditionally seen as socially conservative - to have its ban overturned. 

 

The decision adds momentum to a growing acceptance of gay marriage in the US, our correspondent adds.

 

Earlier this week, a federal judge in Kentucky - another southern state - ruled that it must recognise same-sex marriages performed elsewhere in the US.

 

However, the judge did not rule on the legality of same-sex marriages inside Kentucky, effectively meaning that the current ban remained in place.

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