Vermont Votes (Take 1): Gay Marriage En Route
Following Wednesday’s townhall meeting, Vermont’s five-member Senate Judiciary Committee is today expected to vote on whether the gay marriage bill before it should go to a full Senate vote. It’s expected to pass; three members helped enact Vermont’s civil unions law, one junior member co-sponsored the gay marriage bill, and one member voted against the civil unions measure. And even better news comes from Gov. Jim Douglas, who’s said he opposed full gay marriage rights, but now laments, “Since they seem intent on doing this, I think the better approach is to get it over with quickly.” Update: The bill passes, 5-0. [BFP]
Pictured: Democratic Rep. Mark Larson, who co-sponsored the bill with David Zuckerman, speaks to gay marriage supporters
Compare and contrast; one of my high school english teachers drilled that into my head.?Compare and contrast: Slave rights and gay rights; the contrasts are easy, the comparisons are profound. Slaves could not get legally married either. They could not create and sign contracts, and what is marriage mostly (legally speaking) but a huge contract with thousands of rights and responsibilities.?Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke there last year saying, “That just like apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between different races, laws against homosexuality are increasingly becoming recognized as anachronistic and inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion, and respect for all.”?Apartheid: A system of laws applied to one category of citizens in order to isolate them and keep them from having privileges and opportunities given to all others.?Stop gay apartheid.
“Since they seem intent on doing this, I think the better approach is to get it over with quickly.” Sounds similar to what Mrs. Douglas said on the honeymoon…
I just like how we’re “they.” Yay.
Truly exciting. This train is moving…
@boarderthom: Is there some reason you repeat this exact same comment all the time? I mean, it doesn’t even seem that well thought out or put together…
@Stitch: Good question its getting a little bot/spam like… Kudos to Vermont, I know it hasn’t passed yet but what the Governor said and the full endorsement of the committee I think its chances are looking up.
Vermont is suddenly more sophisticated than California!