Vermont Committee Passes ‘Civil Unions’ Bill

A bill that would create “civil unions” for homosexual couples overwhelmingly passed a Vermont House committee Wednesday, a key step toward creating the nation’s most far-reaching law for gay domestic partnership.

The bill grants all of the benefits and rights of marriage the state can legally offer, but it cannot grant the tax advantages and hundreds of other benefits that the federal government provides.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve done,” state Rep. William Lippert said after the House Judiciary Committee voted, 10 to 1, to approve the bill.

The only openly homosexual member of the Legislature, Lippert made the formal motion to recommend the bill as a crowd nearing 50 people spilled out into the hallway of a committee room designed for half that number.

Among the people who gathered for the hearing was Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist from New York who came to Vermont to oppose the bill. He stood near the door scowling.

“The day of judgment is coming, folks,” Terry said as the committee meeting ended.

The only vote against the bill came from Rep. William Mackinnon, who said homosexuals should be granted full marriage rights--equal to what heterosexuals enjoy.

The issue is before the Legislature because the state Supreme Court ruled in December that homosexuals were being unconstitutionally denied the rights and benefits of marriage.

The court suggested that the Legislature could broaden marriage statutes or adopt a domestic partnership system.

No state has legalized homosexual marriage. Ever since Hawaii’s Supreme Court raised the possibility of same-sex unions in 1993, Congress and 30 states have passed preemptive laws saying they won’t recognize such marriages if they are legalized in any other state.

Hawaii has since barred gay marriage. A measure on the ballot Tuesday in California seeks to do essentially the same thing.

The Vermont bill still must be reviewed by the Ways and Means Committee before it goes before the full House. The bill is not likely to go to a floor debate until the middle of the month. Gov. Howard Dean supports the measure.

“This bill represents the most comprehensive, strongest piece of legislation proposed anywhere in the United States through a legislative body,” Lippert said.