After California, New England Becomes Epicenter of Gay Marriage

by Michael Jones · 2008-11-20 07:57:00 UTC
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Gay Marriage New EnglandAs of today, the only two states in the U.S. that recognize same-sex marriage are New England States - Massachusetts and Connecticut.  If Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) have their way, the other four New England states - Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont - will soon be added to the list.

Earlier this week, on the five-year anniversary of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage, GLAD announced in a campaign dubbed "6x12" that they will be doubling their efforts to push for marriage equality throughout New England.  By 2012, GLAD says, they would like all six New England states to recognize gay marriage.

Each of the four remaining states has a different political landscape on the issue of gay marriage, but GLAD indicates that progress has been made on the issue of marriage over the past few years.  Vermont and New Hampshire, for example, recognize civil unions, while activists in Maine were successful in getting over 30,000 voters to sign postcards on Election Day saying they support gay marriage.  Even Rhode Island has been active on the front, with organizers hosting large demonstrations for marriage equality in the wake of California's passage of Proposition 8.

Vermont, it seems, is emerging as the next potential victory for gay marriage supporters.

A majority of Vermont residents support changing civil unions to gay marriage, and State Sen. John Campbell, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced this week that he will be sponsoring a bill in support of same-sex marriage at the beginning of the 2009 legislative session.  And Beth Robinson, the attorney that argued the successful litigation to make Vermont the first state to recognize civil unions eight years ago said in no uncertain terms "This will be the year," for gay marriage in Vermont.  And earlier this year, an independent advisory group called the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection issued a report that said full equality would more directly be achieved in Vermont if the state recognized gay marriage, not just civil unions.

While California's decision on gay marriage remains up in the air with yesterday's decision by the CA Supreme Court to hear arguments on Proposition 8, New England may be the battleground yet again on the issue of gay marriage.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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