Vermont About to Make LGBT History

by Michael Jones · 2009-03-23 16:49:00 UTC
Topics:

Vermont

With a 26-4 vote, the Vermont State Senate has approved legislation that would make VT the first state in the country to recognize marriage equality through the legislative process. The vote, which took place after the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the marriage equality measure last week, sets up a historic vote in the House which could come as early as this week.

The House is expected to pass the bill with flying colors, and after the happens, the bill will head to the Governor's desk. Here's what State Senator John Campbell told Vermont Public Radio, when asked what he thought about opponents of same-sex marriage who think that LGBT people should be denied marriage rights:

...One person went so far to say [LGBT} people should be arrested because that lifestyle should be criminal. You know who those people are? They are our policemen. They are our firefighters. They're teachers; they're garbagemen; they're the guy who plows the street. They are our children, our sisters, our brothers. That's what they are. They are human beings and as such and as it's said in this bill they should be treated equally.

Vermont made history in 2000 when it became the first state to recognize civil unions.  It's going to make history again by becoming the first state in the country to recognize same-sex marriage via legislation.  Word is still out on whether Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas will support or veto the legislation, but given today's vote in the Senate (26-4) and the likely large vote that will take place in the House, Gov. Douglas should think twice about vetoing a bill with widespread support.

For more information, visit Vermont Freedom to Marry.  If there's any group that deserves praise for getting marriage equality one step closer in Vermont, it's VT Freedom to Marry.

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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