Vt. senate passes gay marriage bill
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The Vermont Senate debates a bill on gay marriage in Montpelier on Monday. The bill passed by 26-4. See Page C5 for how the vote is weighing on Vt. politicians. The Associated Press |
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By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 24, 2009
MONTPELIER — The Vermont Senate gave preliminary approval early Monday evening to a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry.
The 26-4 vote saw a handful of Republicans join their Democratic colleagues in supporting the same-sex marriage bill, which would make Vermont the third state in the country to allow gays and lesbians to marry.
Senators are expected to easily give the bill final approval in a procedural vote today to make way for the start of hearings before the House Judiciary Committee, which will begin at the Statehouse later that afternoon.
"The same-sex couples that I know … they are ready for the responsibility of marriage," said Sen. John Campbell, a Windsor Democrat and a lead sponsor of the bill. "We, as a state, should welcome that."
The 90-minute debate over the same-sex marriage bill in the Vermont Senate on Monday afternoon contained none of the divisiveness and rancor that often marked the debate leading to the state's first-in-the-nation civil union bill in 2000.
A handful of senators — including several who voted yes on the bill — tried to attach an amendment Monday that would instead put the issue before Vermont voters in the form of a nonbinding referendum at the 2010 town meeting. That amendment failed in a roll call of 19-11.
"There is a perception that this has been rammed down the throat of Vermonters," said Sen. Kevin Mullin, a Rutland Republican who offered the amendment in both the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and on the floor Monday. Mullin later voted in favor of the bill.
Republican Sen. Randy Brock of Franklin was one of the strong opponents of the bill who spoke on the Senate floor Monday. He invoked both President Barack Obama and Gov. James Douglas' opposition to same-sex marriage in his argument.
"I strongly believe that gay and lesbian Vermonters should be offered the same rights as other Vermonters," Brock said. "Our civil union law accomplished that."
Senators supporting the bill rushed to defend it.
Democratic Sen. Edward Flanagan of Chittenden said "all Vermonters should be able to take on the trials and tribulations and rich rewards that marriage uniquely offers." Sen. Richard McCormack, a Windsor Democrat, said the definition of marriage has shifted throughout history from wives being the equivalent of servants to both spouses being equal partners.
Campbell said opponents of same-sex marriage are "too often hung up on the sex thing" when what happens in a bedroom is none of the state's business. He also objected to opponents referring to gay and lesbian Vermonters as "them" or "they" — indications that he took that they are seen as second-class citizens.
"You know who they are?" Campbell said of gay and lesbian residents. "They are our police officers, they are our firefighters, our teachers, our garbage men; they are the guy who plows our street. They are our children and they are our brothers and sisters. They are human beings."
Steve Cable of Rutland, a same-sex marriage opponent and spokesman for the organization Vermont Renewal, issued a press statement soon after Monday's vote criticizing the Senate for approving the bill after only 12 hours of testimony.
He said the Democratic leadership of the Vermont Legislature fast-tracked the bill this year and stacked the list of witnesses before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of same-sex marriage.
"The Senate Judiciary Committee had spent 168 hours revamping one very small but important aspect of our criminal code, the sex offender laws, yet only spent 12.5 hours to rewrite the fundamental institution of marriage," Cable said.
Monday's vote was a victory for same-sex marriage supporters in Vermont, who have been waiting for Montpelier politicians to take up the issue since the civil union compromise nine years ago.
But as the issue moves over to the Vermont House, the battle is expected to heat up. Although the House has a strong Democratic majority, that body has 120 more members than the Senate, including some who represent conservative districts.
Democratic Rep. William Lippert of Hinesburg, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Monday evening that he will begin hearings on the same-sex marriage bill at 2:30 p.m. today in Room 11 on the first floor of the Statehouse.
He said it is not clear when his committee would vote on the bill, but he hopes for a full Vermont House debate to begin on April 2.
Lippert, who was vice-chairman of that committee when the civil union law passed, said he plans to "take a step back" with his hearings and look at how civil unions came to be and the details of the 1999 court decision that forced the state's hand.
"With the Senate committee, there are several members who were in the Legislature during the civil union debate," Lippert said. "But on my committee, I've got 11 members and only two of them, including myself, were in this building during that time."
Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com