Brattleboro Reformer - Making a stand for equality

Brattleboro Reformer - Making a stand for equality


Tuesday, December 4 On Wednesday at 5 p.m., the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection will hold a public forum at the Brattleboro Area Middle School.
It will be the third in a series of hearings that the state's Legislature-backed commission has held around the state on extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. That these hearings have attracted so little public attention is sign of how far Vermont has come in the seven years since the Legislature legalized civil unions for same-sex couples in 2000.
Perhaps Joseph Gainza said it best at one of the commission's hearings in Lyndonville on Nov. 19. The Marshfield resident observed that most heterosexual Vermonters, including himself, noticed that civil unions were not the catastrophe that its opponents made them out to be.
"The change came and you realized nothing in your life changed," said Gainza. "The only difference was that your neighbors have some rights they didn't have. And none of your own rights were taken away in the process."
Unfortunately, the people who railed against civil unions in 2000 remain opposed to them in 2007. The major anti-gay marriage groups in the state are boycotting the
hearings, because they believe the commission has already decided what recommendation it will make to the Legislature in the spring.
Maybe so. But the truth of the matter is that there is nothing left to debate about the issue. The institution of marriage in Vermont did not crumble when civil unions were enacted. The fabric of our society did not unravel. Instead, a group of people who had long been denied the rights and responsibilities of marriage received some of those rights and responsibilities. And the Earth continued to turn.
The question now is whether same-sex couples should have all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage in the areas of health insurance, inheritance and pensions, instead of the separate and almost equal status of civil unions.
So far, only Massachusetts allows gay and lesbian couples to legally marry. New Hampshire, New Jersey and Connecticut are the only other states besides Vermont that have civil unions.
The curious thing is that the debate has shifted so much since 2000 that civil unions are now seen as a sensible compromise by many Americans.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll released last month found that 55 percent of Americans support civil unions for same-sex couples. That compares to 45 percent a year ago.
At the same time, there are 40 states that have laws that define marriage as between one man and one woman. And the federal government refuses to recognize civil unions or same-sex marriage when it comes to benefits and legal rights.
Legalizing same-sex marriage in Vermont won't change this, at least not right away. But just as civil unions went from being vehemently opposed to politically acceptable to all but extremists, Vermont could be in the vanguard of equality for all by extending full marriage recognition without a court requirement.
This is not, as some would say, a political sideshow that distracts lawmakers from bigger issues. It is about the most fundamental issue of all -- equality, and whether our society recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of all of its members. There is no discussion more important.