Will Virginia be the first Southern state to legalize same-sex marriage? Big news coming out of Old Dominion suggests it just may be. The Week reports:

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office said Thursday he would stop defending the state’s ban on gay marriage against challenges in federal court because he had concluded that it was unconstitutional. Herring spokesman Michael Kelly said the state — a battleground in the fight over same-sex marriage — would instead side with plaintiffs trying to get the ban struck down. Herring’s decision came a string of victories for gay marriage supporters, including the rejection by federal judges of bans in Utah and Oklahoma.