After the Vermont Senate voted 26-4 in favor of the legislation
legalizing same-sex marriage, Vermont Governor Jim Douglas announced
his intent to veto the bill -- before the House had a chance to take up
the bill.
When the bill came up in the House last week, it passed 94-52. After
the bill went to conference committee, the Senate passed it again this
week by a vote of 25 to 3.
When it came up for the second vote in the House, it passed 100-49, one vote more than needed to overturn the governor's veto.
What is remarkable about both the House and Senate's second votes is
that elected officials changed their votes in response to constituent
outreach. Members of both chambers received hundreds of calls, emails
and comments from constituents on this issue and several changed their
votes based on what they heard.
Other members of both houses voted, with difficulty, against the wishes
of their party and, in some cases, against the wishes of their
constituents.
When we elect people to represent us in Montpelier, and in Washington,
we ask them to do several things. We expect them to represent our
wishes, our needs, our best interests and our values.
But we also expect them to exercise their best judgment based on how
they represented themselves when they ran for election in the first
place. We expect them to keep an open mind, to become informed and to
balance how they vote with what is right for us in their districts and
what is right for all Vermonters.
In 2000 Vermont was the first state in the country to create
legislation that recognizes the very real civil right of all couples to
be treated equally under the law, regardless of sexual orientation.
And this week, Vermont became the first state to allow same-sex
marriage through legislative action rather than through a court ruling
-- as was the case in Massachusetts, Iowa and Connecticut.
While all may not agree with the outcome, process works.
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