STATUS: Marriage

 

WINNING MARRIAGE: On April 7, 2009, Vermont became the fourth state to uphold the freedom to marry. Earlier in 2009, the Vermont legislature passed a bill ending the exclusion of gay couples from marriage, but Gov. Jim Douglas vetoed the bill. Immediately the bill went back to the Vermont legislature, and with a newfound, veto-proof 2/3 majority in each chamber, they achieved a successful override of the governor's veto.

 

The first marriages for same-sex couples began on September 1, 2009. Advocates in the state continue to work to preserve the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.

 

HISTORY: Vermont was the first state to create civil unions in 2000. Although the civil union law lacked many of the protections that marriage provides, the development was a historic breakthrough at the time.

 

In 2007, a bill was introduced in the Vermont legislature to allow the freedom to marry, but the bill stalled in a committee that had been devised to study marriage between same-sex couples.

 

GROUPS THAT WORKED ON MARRIAGE:

• Vermont Freedom to Marry is Vermont's central statewide organization working to protect the freedom to marry.
• Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples nationwide.
• Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. 

NUMBER OF SAME-SEX COUPLES: According to The Williams Institute's analysis of the 2010 U.S. Census, 2,143 same-sex couples are living in Vermont, representing 8.4 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.