Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Vermont upgrades from civil unions to same-sex marriage

WOW!! What a week we've had. First Iowa, and now Vermont. Although Vermont already offered civil unions to gays and lesbians (the first state to ever do so) they now passed legislation to make same-sex marriage legal (the first state to ever pass legislation without the courts forcing them to do so).

The governor, unfortunately, tried to stop the legislation with his veto, forever tying his name to bigotry, but the legislature had enough votes to override him, and so they did:
MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A ten-year battle to grant same sex couples the legal right to marry culminated in a dramatic political showdown Tuesday at the Statehouse with the house voting to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of the gay marriage bill.

The House voted 100-49 to override the veto Tuesday. The vote tally was greeted by rousing applause in the House chamber.

The state House and Senate sent the bill to the Governor’s office Monday evening where, as expected, it met with rejection.

The Senate began the override debate at about 10 a.m. as lobbying continued in the House chambers nearby. "This is our moment," Sen. Peter Shumlin told senate members as the Senate debate began.

The debate was short as the Senate voted to override Douglas' veto 23-5.
[...]
"For the people voting to override the veto, they're voting to support the majority of Vermonters," Smith said. "They believe the majority of Vermont should be heard and should not be blocked by one man."
[...]
"Everyone should have the same rights for who they want to marry," said Moira Adams, who supports the bill. "It doesn't matter who they want to marry. If they're in love, they should be able to marry."

"They definitely should override him, absolutely," said Sean Tymecki, who supports the bill. "Vermont's always been the first -- first to abolish slavery and first to have civil unions -- and we should keep going with it."
Thank you Vermont!

No comments: