Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says his office no longer will defend the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in federal lawsuits seeking to overturn the law.

Less than two weeks after being sworn in as Virginia's first Democratic attorney general in 20 years, Mr. Herring said Thursday that he now views the 2006 amendment to the state's constitution outlawing same-sex marriage as a violation of due process and equal protection guarantees under the U.S. Constitution, and that he intends to argue in federal court for the law's invalidation.

“After thorough legal review, I have now concluded that Virginia's ban on marriage between same-sex couples violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on two grounds: Marriage is a fundamental right being denied to some Virginians, and the ban unlawfully discriminates on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender,” Mr. Herring said in a statement.

He made his announcement just days before the scheduled beginning of oral arguments in a lawsuit filed last July by same-sex couples. They accused Janet Rainey, Virginia's registrar of vital records, and two circuit court clerks of violating the couples' 14th Amendment rights by enforcing the state law, which neither permits same-sex marriages in Virginia nor recognizes the validity of same-sex marriages performed legally in other states.

Mr. Herring filed notice Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia indicating that while his office will still serve as lead defense counsel for Ms. Rainey, his responsibility to uphold the U.S. Constitution supersedes his duty to defend state-level laws and regulations.

“When the attorney general, exercising his independent constitutional judgment, concludes that a provision of the Virginia Constitution or an act of the General Assembly violates the federal Constitution, he is not duty-bound to defend it,” Mr. Herring said in his notice to the court.

He has yet to file a similar notice in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, where his office is defending Ms. Rainey in a second lawsuit challenging the state's same-sex marriage ban.

A request for comment from Ms. Rainey was referred back to the attorney general's office.

In both suits, Mr. Herring's support of invalidating Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage stands in sharp contrast to legal arguments submitted by his Republican predecessor, Ken Cuccinelli, who did not seek re-election last year to run for governor.

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Under Mr. Cuccinelli, the state’s justification for banning same-sex marriage was rooted primarily in the argument that the ban furthers the state’s interest in protecting society by “encouraging couples to remain together to rear the children they conceive. It reinforces a norm where sexual activity that can beget children should occur in a long-term, cohabitative relationship,” according to court documents.

The state’s previous legal argument in support of the marriage ban “not only disrespects Virginia’s same-sex couples and families, but it is illogical,” Mr. Herring said in his statement.

“It is simply inconceivable that denying same-sex couples the right to marry will make heterosexual couples more likely to marry and have children,” he said. “Virginians should no longer face discrimination and economic hardship based on whom they love and commit their lives to.”