Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in Vermont

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By James H. Cone

Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in Vermont

AP photo / Toby Talbot

Gay marriage advocate Beth Robinson holds back tears in Montpelier, Vt., on Tuesday following the state’s passage of a gay marriage bill. At left is Sherry Corbin and at right is Susan Murray.

Vermont has followed Iowa’s lead, becoming the fourth state to make same-sex marriage legal. On Tuesday, the Vermont Legislature overturned Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto with one more vote than was needed to make it official.

New York Times:

The step makes Vermont the first state to allow same-sex marriage through legislative action instead of a court ruling. The law goes into effect Sept. 1.

Approval had been expected in the Senate, where the vote was 23 to 5.

But the outcome in the House of Representatives was not clear until the final moments of a long roll call, when Rep. Jeff Young, a Democrat who voted against the bill last week, reversed his position. In the end the vote was 100 to 49, just slightly more than the required two-thirds majority of members present.

After the final tally, cheers erupted in both legislative chambers of the State House and in the hallways outside, and several lawmakers on both sides of the debate looked stunned.

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TAGS: bill civil rights gay marriage iowa legislature same-sex marriage vermont

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By Vince, April 8, 2009 at 10:51 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Leave it to Vermont and Iowa to be the most progressive states in the nation, shame on us here in California for passing Prop 9. Whether you call it Gay Marriage or Civil Union, the basic premise is that every person should have equal rights. It’s good to see that some states are progressing, I made a list on my site of the states I think will legalize Gay Marriage first: http://www.toptentopten.com/topten/first+states+that+will+legalize+gay+marriage

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By Ed Harges, April 7, 2009 at 8:02 pm Link to this comment

Well, so we have one new right in one more state, and it’s about time we had it in all 50 states.

But our more fundamental rights, as laid out in the Bill of Rights, continue to disappear. The Obama administration just won a court battle to retain Bush’s sweeping wiretapping powers, and Obama has in fact defended virtually all of the outrageous new unconstitutional powers which Bush and Cheney claimed after 9/11.

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