[JayJay]

The Vermont Legislature has voted to override the Governor's veto of the marriage equality bill. The vote in the Senate was 25 to 3; in the House, it was 100-49.

Congratulations to Vermont!

Even before the override, I was thinking that whether it succeeded or not, we had already won a great victory there. The very fact that the Senate approved marriage equality by a 24-6 vote, and the House by a 95-52 vote on first consideration is astounding. What other state’s legislature (except perhaps that of Massachusetts) would approve marriage equality by such margins? In many legislatures, there would be no votes in favor of marriage equality.

This speaks well of the success of grassroots organizing in Vermont and of the success of the Civil Unions law. People in Vermont realize that the sky will not fall if people are treated fairly and equally. Thank you Vermont for becoming the first state to adopt marriage equality by vote of the legislature rather than as a result of a court decision.
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Jay

[gennee]

Wow! That's a big margin. My congrats to the people of Vermont. My thanks to grassroots orgainizing, which is the best way to implement change.

Gennee