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In 1997 three same-sex couples sued the state of Vermont after their local town clerks refused to issue them marriage licenses, citing a provision in the Common Benefits Clause of the Vermont State Constitution. After conflicting rulings in the lower courts, the case went to the Vermont State Supreme Court. The Court issued a decision in December of 1999 that stated same-sex couples were entitled to all the rights and privileges as traditional opposite-sex couples. The court then directed to state legislature to find a way to confer these rights and privileges, either by amending the marriage statutes to be gender neutral, or by establishing a parallel domestic partnership system. The legislature chose the latter and passed the Civil Union law in April of 2000. The Civil Union law provides for all the benefits of marriage that the state can grant, such as inheritance, making health care decisions for one’s partner, etc. However, the legislature was very clear about including language in the Civil Union law that said marriage was exclusively for traditional opposite-sex couples. Also, with no recognition from the Federal Government (specifically denied to same-sex couples in the Defense of Marriage Act) concerning tax status, inheritance tax exemption, Social Security survivor benefits, or anything else, you can see that what we have, although a great step in the right direction, is not marriage, or true equity. Still, the idea of the State of Vermont recognizing our relationship, and doing the best it can to provide to us the benefits of marriage, is so personal and important to us that we had to take advantage, and ask all of you to come and celebrate with us. If you want to know more about the Civil Union Law and what it is (and isn’t) you can check out the links below. http://www.lmaw.org/vermont.htm http://www.leg.state.vt.us/baker/baker.cfm http://www.vermontcivilunion.com/ |
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