First came Vermont's politicians looking to what happened with gay marriage coming to Connecticut. Then there were the activists who started pushing for full marriage equality throughout New England. Then came Vermont State Sen. John Campbell saying he planned to introduce a bill to legalize gay marriage. And then came Vermont State Reps. Mark Larson and David Zuckerman actually putting the bill in front of legislators last month. And now? And now there's support from Vermont's politicos, who already managed to legalize civil unions, to push the equality bill through both houses. Might this be a big year in Montpelier?
"Passing this bill is the right thing to do at this time," said Sen. Peter Shumlin, D-Vt. President Pro Tem.
Shumlin and Rep. Shap Smith, D-Vt. House Speaker, plan to push a marriage equality bill quickly through both chambers.
[...]
"The world has changed a lot since 2000," said Beth Robinson, an advocate of gay marriage.
Gay marriage advocates say civil unions were so controversial because Vermont was the first in the nation to legalize them.
But they've since paved the way for gay marriage in other states.
"Civil unions were a breakthrough at the time. But we never thought that civil unions created full equal rights for gay and lesbian Vermonters," Robinson said. "It's hard for me to imagine anyone would think that recognizing and respecting their lifetime partnership takes anything away from anybody else."
Robinson says full marriage rights offer same-sex couples more legal protections and the pride of being able to say you're married.
"We are changing the definition of marriage," said Craig Bensen, who opposes gay marriage.
Gay marriage opponents say marriage should remain between a man and a woman– anything else threatens the institution of marriage.
"It is not a positive social good to create a permanent class of motherless and fatherless children," Bensen said.
Gov. Jim Douglas, R-Vermont, says this is not the time. He says it's too divisive of an issue when lawmakers should be working on the economic crisis.
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I'd be willing to bet they'll get SSM in Vermont. My cousin (female) is married to a (male) Justice of the Peace. He doesn't quite understand the Gay thing, but he's married a couple guys. He reflects what seems to be the very tolerant attitude of Vermonters. Or hate of too much government meddling (or both !!!!) :)
@Jaroslaw: It's weird. In some ways, I think Vermont is the reverse of California. In CA, the legislators (and now Governor) are ahead of the voters in supporting marriage equality. But in VT, I think the reverse is true. It seems the people are ready, but the Governor isn't and I haven't yet heard if there's a veto-proof majority in the Legislature.
ATDLEFT – you're probably right that the voters are ahead of the governing entities, I've heard something like that before about Vermont. But it would be really interesting to know what would have happened in California if the Catholic & Mormon churches hadn't gone overboard with advertising not to mention their outright lies and deceptions.
Vermont is the f*cking bomb. I hope this happens. Come on VT, keep on the independent spirit!
Yes, the Senate/House are veto-proof. But not all of us VT-gays have SSM high on our must-do list… some of us would settle for just a date…
Ooops – it is not officialy veto-proof – but if Republicans who have stated their support don't back off, it would be.
@GayBobVT: I know there's a large Democratic majority in both houses… But are they all pro-marriage? In California, we have pro-marriage majorities in both houses of the legislature… But they're far from veto-proof. That's why the bill to allow a vote to overturn 22 failed in 2006 after Arnold vetoed it.
So are we prepared in VT to deal with a likely Douglas veto?
I've been reading that Douglas might be very likely to not veto but just let it become law without signing.
@Bruno – I agree, he will say it is not the time, but is unlikely to veto if it comes to that. Their is evidence in his past actions that he will not go against Montpelier especially considering that the majority of the people of Vermont consider this a non issue and want it passed and over with and settled so they can move on to the issues that need to be tackled. Very similar to the public sentiment in Connecticut. Gays want to get married go ahead and let em.
ps – GO NEW ENGLAND!!!
this is partially why i'm absolutely rabid to move to Vermont. when my husband and i vacationed there we were just floored by how laid back and non intrusive the people were. we didn't see all the religious crap or the judgmental-ism that is rampant in Utah and Wyoming (at least the part i live in). they really seem to have their heads in the right place.
California will one day be as cool as Vermont and the rest of New England. Norcal is already there. It's those fascists in Inland Empire and Orange County who are holding us back.
Strange… has anybody noticed that nations closest to the North Pole are the most gay friendly? Canada, Iceland, Scandinavia, Netherlands, New England. Yes as you get closer to the Equator you get stuck w North Africa, India, the Bible Belt (YUCK!), and nations less friendly or even hostile to gay rights. Does this mean that homophobia could be a weather pattern?
@Captain Freedom: Could be – you have the same pattern in the Southern hemisphere: those countries closest to the south pole (south America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand) tend to be the most enlightened, and as you move north they get more unenlightened until you hit the "Strip of Hate".
@Captain Freedom – Alot of things are better the farther North you go.