Gov. Howard Dean
MONTPELIER, VT -This state's lower House approved a measure March 16 to allow gay couples to create "civil unions" carrying both many burdens and benefits of civil marriage. If it passes the state Senate, as expected, Gov. Howard Dean signs it, Vermont will have gone further than any state in recognizing same-sex couples legally.
If it does become law, gay couples would become entitled to about 300 Vermont state benefits or privileges enjoyed now by heterosexual married couples only - like property transfers, inheritance, insurance, state taxes, and medical matters. But Washington would still not recognize such unions concerning immigration and Social Security rights, and federal taxes.
Over 30 states have laws denying recognition to same sex marriages performed in other states; California, for example, just passed a ballot initiative formally defining marriage as heterosexual.
Vermont's bill would also allow gay couples to apply for licenses from town clerks and have their civil unions certified by justices of the peace, judges, or clergymen. But partners would also have to go through dissolution motions in family court if they want to split, similar to divorce, and would have to assume each other's debts.
This bill may bring Vermont to the brink of gay marriage outright, but lawmakers still passed an amendment to the bill preserving the term "marriage" to mean a heterosexual union. Last December, Vermont's Supreme Court ruled same sex couples were denied the benefits of marriage unconstitutionally, but left it to state lawmakers to decide the gay marriage versus civil union issue.
