WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Will Vermont Allow Same-Sex Marriage?
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Montpelier, Vermont - January 7, 2009
It has been nine years since Vermont lawmakers and residents were embroiled in a bitter battle over civil unions. In the meantime two states -- Massachusetts and Connecticut -- have granted same-sex couples the right to marry. New Jersey and New Hampshire started offering civil unions, and California performed same-sex marriages until voters passed Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, on November 4, 2008.
Now Vermont could be on the cusp of becoming the next state to grant same-sex couples the right to marry. Senator John Campbell, D-Quechee, has introduced a bill that would do just that. It also grants religious institutions the right to deny performing the marriages.
"I believe very strongly that the people of Vermont do support equality for all people," says Campbell.
For the Senator this bill is a personal matter. He introduced a similar bill last legislative session. It led to the creation of the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection, a group tasked with holding hearings across the state and creating a report for lawmakers on whether the public supports gay marriage and whether it is needed. After hearing testimony at the commission's public hearings, Campbell says he became convinced the state needs to take the next step to granting full marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Campbell's hope is that the bill would pass during the first half of the legislative biennium. He says support in the Senate is strong and believes he has support in the House as well. He's also getting help from gay marriage advocates who say they will work hard to make sure the bill passes.
"This is the year we've been planning for quite some time," says Beth Robinson, director of Vermont Freedom to Marry. "In 2000 when the civil union law passed it was a step forward but it was also a compromise."
In that time though, 44 states have also passed explicit bans on same-sex marriage. Opponents of the idea in Vermont say they are not going to sit idly by.
"This would be a bigger fight than civil unions," says Stephen Cable, who created a shadow marriage commission, and plans to lobby the Statehouse on behalf of the group Favor the Family. "We're talking about redefining marriage now; we're talking about redefining society."
Lobbyists on both sides are more than ready to make their thoughts known on this bill but those thoughts will have to take a back seat while lawmakers first deal with the issue of a major fiscal crisis.
"That is the number one issue," says Campbell. "It's unquestionable that we have to address that financial issue. Once that's done there will be other, obviously other bills that will be addressed."
Gay marriage would be addressed by the judiciary committees of the Senate and House. Those committees do not deal with financial issues, so Campbell and his supporters say there would be plenty of time for lawmakers to deal with both.
"I can assure you that the legislature is more than capable of dealing with multiple issues," he adds.
But whether the state is ready to allow same-sex marriage might not be known until it comes to a vote.
Bianca Slota - WCAX News
