Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify that Youngkin will not run for reelection next year since the Governor of Virginia cannot serve consecutive terms.

Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin signed legislation further enshrining purported same-sex marriage, a move which conservative pastors in the commonwealth denounced as unbiblical and a violation of his campaign promises.

Youngkin was sent eighty-four bills from the Virginia General Assembly earlier this month, ultimately signing sixty-four and vetoing or suggesting amendments to the rest. One of the bills he endorsed was a measure that forbids anyone except for “religious organizations and members of the clergy acting in their religious capacity” from refusing to grant a “lawful marriage” license on the basis of “sex, gender, or race.” The new statute also says that “such lawful marriages shall be recognized in the commonwealth regardless of the sex, gender, or race of the parties.”

The surprise affirmation of purported same-sex marriage garnered accolades from left-wing activist groups in the state: Equality Virginia remarked in a statement that Youngkin has “shown leadership and inclusivity” and has “finally listened to his constituents” by signing the bill. Virginia Democratic Delegate Rozia Henson, an author of the legislation who describes himself as the first openly homosexual black man to serve in the Virginia General Assembly, commended the passage of the bill and said that “Virginia will be for lovers.”

Youngkin, a rising star in the Republican Party, remarked in a general statement about the bills that the new statutes he endorsed are a “demonstration of what can be achieved when we set politics aside and work together for Virginians.”

The new law comes nearly nine years after the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state governments must guarantee protections for purported same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment. Christians reject the legitimacy of the practice on the basis that God ordained marriage as a lifelong union only between one man and one woman.

Two pastors in Virginia interviewed by The Sentinel voiced disagreement and disappointment with Youngkin over the move. Nate Schlomann, the executive pastor of Village Church in North Chesterfield, Virginia, remarked that “there was no reason” for Youngkin to sign the bill.

“We already have First Amendment protections as pastors, and my concern is that the logic of this bill will make all other Christians more vulnerable to persecution for their beliefs in the future,” Schlomann commented. “If Equality Virginia is celebrating your actions, you probably were not looking out for conservative Christians. This is a betrayal.”

David Schrock, the preaching pastor of Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge, Virginia, likewise told The Sentinel that Youngkin had worked against the interests of Christians.

“When Youngkin was voted into office, Christians across the state of Virginia breathed a sigh of relief. He ran on a platform to honor faith, to protect families, and to reverse the liberal overreach of his predecessor,” Schrock remarked. “But with this unexpected and unnecessary decision, Youngkin has not only reversed course: he has effectively broken the trust of the people who voted for him. For Christians, he has signed a bill that enshrines so-called same-sex marriage into law, but also he has exposed countless conscientious Virginians to legal threat.”

Schrock added that the laws of Virginia ideally “would not simply provide a thin cover for religious clergy” who refuse to issue marriage licenses but affirmatively recognize the “goodness of marriage as being an institution formed by one man and one woman for life.” He said that state laws should protect biblical marriages, which are “necessary for civilization to endure.”

“Alternatively, the redefinition of marriage, along with its legal fiction, threatens to harm society,” Schrock continued. “Clearly, we are a long way from an ideal society, let alone a biblical one, but in a commonwealth that was chartered to protect religious liberty, Virginians need to know that Youngkin’s support of this bill is a direct threat to their faith.”