On Monday (3/23/09) the Vermont Senate overwhelmingly passed the so-called ‘gay marriage’ bill with a veto proof margin on the second reading. A third reading and vote is scheduled for today.

Meanwhile, the state House is also prepared to pass the bill but not by as large a margin.

Gov. Jim Douglas, opposes “gay marriage” but has not pledged to veto it. If he does, a two-thirds vote is required to override a governors veto in Vermont.

The state Democratic leaders have placed the bill on a fast track–the Senate Judiciary Committee took a mere three days to consider it. This has caused some opponents to cry foul.  Republican Sen. Randolph D. Brock commented:

“We have spent more time in this session licensing landscape architects than we have on dealing with an issue of immense social importance and a public policy issue that will affect Vermonters and the history of our state.”

If the bill does pass both the Vermont Senate and House with a veto proof majority or if it is signed by the governor, than Vermont would join Connecticut and Massachusetts as the only states which recognize ‘gay marriage’.

Vermont already has same-sex civil unions, which grant homosexual couples all the legal benefits of marriage minus the name.

Response: This bill doesn’t do anything but give homosexual couples the right to use the term ‘marriage’ for their legal relationships. Homosexual couples in Vermont already have all the legal benefits of marriage available to them minus the name.

No matter how the state legislature votes on this issue, marriage is and will always be defined by God as between a man and a woman.

At least if this passes, it will not be imposed upon the state by a court like in Conn., Mass., and California. Though it would be preferable for a momentous change of this sort to be presented to the voters for their approval. The ‘Democratic’ leaders voted down the amendment that would have enacted that  possibility.

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