Vermont legalizes same-sex marriage

The Senate vote to override was 23-5 and the House vote was 100-49, the exact number of House votes needed.

The law takes effect Sept. 1.

”The struggle for equal rights is never easy,” said Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin. ”I was proud to be president of the Senate nine years ago when Vermont created civil unions (and) I have never felt more proud of Vermont as we become the first state in the
country to enact marriage equality not as the result of a court order, but because it is the right thing to do.”

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called the override ”a significant turning point in the struggle for the equal treatment of our relationships.”

”Vermont is once again making history,” Carey said. ”Nine years ago it did so when it became the first state to grant legal recognition of same-sex relationships through its civil unions law; today, it became the first state … to pass and enact a marriage equality measure.

”The enactment of this bill affirms that only marriage can provide the protections, dignity and respect that the institution bestows. This vote also recognizes that civil unions simply fall short in ensuring same-sex couples are treated equally under the law.”

Same-sex marriage also is legal in Connecticut, Iowa (starting April 27) and Massachusetts, as well as in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden (starting May 1).

California’s Legislature has twice passed bills legalizing same-sex marriage but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed them. Later, the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, with a ruling that took effect in June 2008. Approximately 18,000 same-sex couples got married prior to Nov. 4, 2008, when voters passed Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage. The constitutionality of Prop 8 and the status of the 18,000 marriages are now before the state Supreme Court, with a ruling required by June 3.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and lead lawyer for the gay side in the California case, called the Vermont override ”yet another indication that Proposition 8 is out of step with our nation’s movement toward equality.”

”If the California Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8, California will be an outlier in the ongoing history of equality that is now exemplified by Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa and Massachusetts, as well as many nations around the world,” Minter said.