Vermont’s State Senate votes 26-4 to approve same-sex marriage. [BFP; Earlier]
Vermont Senate Says Yes to Gay Marriage
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Danny
🙂 I Hope it passes in the other legislatures too.
rogue dandelion
yay
but why do they only have 30 senators?
dgz
@rogue dandelion:
because vermont has about 60 citizens.
but, yay! one small step for america, one giant leap for Vermonters.
dgz
argh! the site just changed again! Japhy, i swear y’all just do this to keep me off balance. looks nice, though.
donsnyc
What is difference between the old Vermont Civil Union bill and this new one?
Brian
@donsnyc: Substantively, not a lot. Vermont’s current civil unions are already designed to give the same (state) rights as marriage. One big difference comes in the fact that a new same-sex Vermont marriage will be recognized in other states (e.g. New York, Massachusetts) while an old civil union (probably) wouldn’t be, even if the other state also has civil unions.
Of course, marriage inclusion is a victory for more than just substantive rights. Simply being able to use the word is a huge step for feelings of inclusion and acceptance for Vermont gays and lesbians. Plus, the more states that have inclusive marriage laws, the more likely the federal government will be pressured to recognize them.