Activists Mark Ten-Year Anniversary Of Civil Unions

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(Host)At the end of this month, Vermont will mark ten years since civil unions were adopted for gay and lesbian couples.

As VPR’s Ross Sneyd reports, the importance of the law is still the subject of debate.

(Sneyd) The civil union law itself didn’t even survive to its 10th birthday. It was replaced a year ago when the Legislature expanded the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

But there’s still lively debate among people who were involved in 2000 about whether it was appropriate to settle for something less than advocates really wanted.

Beth Robinson is a lawyer and has been the leader of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force.

(Robinson) "This is a situation where we had a court decision. And we had a bill that did the absolute bare minimum that could possibly have been done in light of what the court decision was."

(Sneyd) Robinson says there was bitter disappointment among many in the task force that the Legislature adopted civil unions – and not marriage.

But then-Governor Howard Dean had made clear that neither he nor the rest of the state was ready to go any farther than the Legislature did.

Representative Bill Lippert was vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee at the time. He says Dean’s stance may have been a disappointment for advocates. But Lippert says he thinks it’s what made doing something possible.

(Lippert) "I am persuaded to this day that there would never have been the ability either to achieve civil unions if Governor Dean hadn’t said he would sign it. Because I know colleagues who said they were not going to expend political capital that it took in order to make the risk. But simultaneously others for whom that was as far as they could go."

(Sneyd) Many people who have observed Vermont politics over the past decade marvel at how much has changed.

Felicia Kornbluh with the University of Vermont’s women and gender studies program is one of them.

(Kornbluh) "I think in Vermont we have a really great case study of how public attitudes can change and have changed. Ten years ago, civil unions were very controversial here. It was a very bitter fight. Last year, when same-sex marriage was created over the governor’s veto, it was not as controversial, it was not as bitter. So the way I understand that is people had 10 years to get used to the idea. And it may have taken some time, but I think people did get used to it. Overwhelmingly."

(Sneyd) Kornbluh says she believes it will be only a matter of time before similar changes take place across the country.

For VPR News, I’m Ross Sneyd.

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