Following the vote to override Governor Douglas's veto, Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin declared, "The struggle for equal rights is never easy. I was proud to be President of the Senate nine years ago when Vermont led the country by creating civil unions. Today is another historic day for Vermont and I have never felt more proud 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."

Sponsor Message.

When the bill took effect on September 1, 2009, Vermont became the fourth state to offer equal marriage rights.

After September 1, 2009, Vermont ceased offering civil unions, though civil unions already performed will continue to be recognized. If parties to civil unions wish to be married, they will have to obtain marriage licenses and have marriage ceremonies.

The new law also makes explicit that Vermont recognizes same-sex marriages that have been performed in other jurisdictions where they are legal.

Although the debate over marriage equality in Vermont was sometimes tense, and often moving, it was not rancorous in the way the debate over civil unions in 2000 had been. The civility of the debate reflected the fact that Vermonters had grown familiar with gay and lesbian couples in civil unions (and in marriage in Massachusetts and Canada) and realized that none of the dire predictions made by opponents had come to pass: the sky did not fall simply because gay and lesbian couples enjoyed equal rights.

The success in Vermont is remarkable when one considers that, except in a few liberal states, few legislators support marriage equality or even civil unions or domestic partnerships. The ability to marshal a 2/3 vote in favor of marriage equality attests to the effectiveness of grass-roots organizing and to Vermonters' commitment to equality under the law.

Domestic Partnerships in Washington

In 2007, in the aftermath of the bitterly divided Washington state supreme court ruling that gay and lesbian couples had no constitutional right to marriage, the Washington legislature adopted a relatively weak domestic partnership law. It provided hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations, and inheritance rights when there is no will.

In 2008, the legislature expanded that law to give domestic partners standing under laws covering probate and trusts, community property, and guardianship.

In 2009, the Democratic-controlled legislature expanded the domestic partnership law to confer on same-sex partners all the rights and responsibilities that Washington state offers to married couples. The bill passed the House by a vote of 62-35 and the Senate by a vote of 30-18.

Among the rights granted by the bill are business succession rights; victims' rights, including the right to receive notifications and benefits allowances; legal process rights; the right to use sick leave to care for a spouse; the right to wages and benefits when a spouse is injured, and to unpaid wages upon death of spouse; the right to unemployment and disability benefits; workers' compensation coverage; and insurance rights, including rights under group policies, policy rights after death of spouse, conversion rights, and continuing coverage rights.

After the passage of the legislation by the state senate on April 15, 2009, Governor Chris Gregoire pledged to sign it as soon as it reached her desk, remarking, "Our state is one that thrives on diversity. We have to respect and protect all of the families that make up our communities."