Vermont celebrates civil unions

As Gaypril comes to a close and talks of gender-neutral housing dominate recent conversation on campus, the town of Middlebury reflects on its own progress in the always-charged sexuality debate. April 26 marked the 10-year anniversary of the civil union in Vermont. The Civil Union Bill, which took effect on July 1 of the same year, was passed by the state in 2000.

Civil union legislation has allowed same-sex couples equal rights and responsibilities, at the state level, as opposite-sex married couples. Under this legal definition, partners are allowed hospital visitation rights and a shared inheritance. The bill also makes it possible for same-sex couples to pay taxes jointly, and it grants parental status to both individuals, should the couple decide to have a child.

The legislation saw its inception in December 1999, when Baker v. Vermont went to the Supreme Court. The court ruled to allow same-sex couples the same rights as opposite-sex ones, triggering the April 2000 legislation. Beth Robinson, a Middlebury lawyer and the chair of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, was one of the lawyers involved in the case.

“I was constantly faced with clients who were being denied basic protection and security,” she said. “Vermont didn’t see a family where one existed.”

The Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force is an educational organization that partners with its sister committee, the Vermont Freedom to Marry Action Committee, which is more political in nature. Robinson, with help from the two other lawyers involved in Baker v. Vermont, founded the organization in December 1995. It acted as a grassroots group, working to bring the case to the supreme court.

“The case was about fairness,” said Dorothy Mammen, the retired statewide coordinator of the task force. “It’s not right that gays and lesbians didn’t have the same rights as everyone else; they shouldn’t be using a separate drinking fountain.”
Mammen, a Middlebury resident, began her work with the task force in the summer of 1999 and continued until the fall of 2001. She said it was an easy decision to get involved with the task force, given her belief that in a just world same-sex couples would share equality; she sees it as a civil rights issue. An active volunteer at first, Mammen talked to many people in the hopes that they would sign a resolution advocating a civil union.

“We trained volunteers, spoke to rotaries, set up booths at the state fairs and held speaking engagements in churches, clubs or wherever we could find space,” Mammen said. “We also collected signatures for our Marriage Resolution, which would allow same sex couples to marry.”

Mammen’s hopes were realized in April 2009, when Vermont became the first state to legislatively pass a bill that legalized same sex marriage, not just civil unions. While other states, like Massachusetts, California, Connecticut and Iowa, had passed same-sex marriage bills in court, Vermont took legislative action. It was passed when a majority — two-thirds of the senate — approved the bill and overrode Governor Douglas’ initial veto.

Robinson sees the passage of the same-sex marriage bill as an important step for Vermont, especially, she mused, because many feared Vermonters would “check-out” of the debate post civil union legislation. Robinson believes that without the coordinated strategic planning of the task force it would not have been possible.

“People are rightly celebrating this groundbreaking bill,” said Robinson. “It was a relief to open this new chapter, and Vermont can proudly look back in nine more years.”

Sherry Corbin, a resident of South Hero, Vt. and the treasurer of the task force, sees both bills as “no brainers” for Vermont. Instead, she called each decision a milestone for the United States.

Those who have been involved with the issue from its roots notice a drastic shift in society today. While the task force observed that people were once reserved about publically supporting same-sex marriage, today it notices that that hesitant nature has vanished. Robinson believes gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals are more comfortable in the community today. However, she knows it will not be as simple as the “flicking of a light switch” to change attitudes on a more universal scale.

“The progress and distance we have come since 1995 is unimaginable,” she said. “Vermont is now welcoming for all citizens and community conversations are more open.”

Mammen agrees with Robinson, and observed that Vermont is one of the first states to pass bills or enact laws in regards to equality and freedom. She said the successful passage of the same-sex marriage bill is a “natural step in the tradition of Vermont’s idea to live and let live.”

“What every gay person sees in their lives, Vermont now sees as a society,” said Corbin. “There was a big coming out party in 2000, and once you come out you can’t come back.”

Many couples came out during the civil unions struggle because, as members of the task force believe, they felt the support of others behind them. People who were concerned about testifying in state court for fear of losing their jobs realized many other people were walking in their same shoes, and together they overcame their fears.

“There has been tremendous change and the gays and lesbians are not afraid to come out of the closet,” Mammen said.

“This has also helped the youth, as children with gay parents are no longer bullied; marriage legitimizes these relationships.”

Ten years later, Vermont can now look back and acknowledge the changes to society due to the passage of both the Civil Union Bill and the recent same-sex marriage legislation. Most, like Mammen, Robinson and Corbin, see only positive and beneficial changes since such enactments.

“How close could we really be with our neighbors if they couldn’t share their fundamental relationship with us?” she said. “Now it’s like, ‘So what?’Being gay is a thing of life, like having blue eyes or brown hair.”