House votes 95-52. Governor Douglas Has Vowed To Veto The Bill
After a 26-4 vote last week in the Senate, the bill moved to Vermont’s House Judiciary Committee, where it was approved 8-2 on Tuesday. The House has been is session debating the bill, which was expected to pass by a wide margin until Vermont’s Republican Governor, Jim Douglas, in an unprecedented statement, threatened to veto the bill should it come to his desk.
In advance of the vote, hundreds of Vermont’s citizens, who are in favor of gay marriage by a 58% to 39% margin, have swarmed the Capitol steps in Montpelier. One Legislator speaking to the House tonight, said he had been deluged with letters, emails, and telephone calls, 90% in favor of passage. The Governor is in the minority of those who oppose gay marriage. There is strong support for gay marriage within the business community, and within the state legislature. Supporters of the bill believe they have the two-thirds majority of votes needed to over-ride the governor’s veto.
In a move similar to the out-of-state efforts of the Mormon Church supporting California’s Proposition 8,  the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage contacted Vermont residents yesterday, asking them to call their legislators and urge them to vote against the bill.
One legislator stated, “I will vote against this bill, and it’s on religious grounds. This comes down to my religion.”
Many in favor of the bill referred to friends or family who are gay, and they spoke eloquently of how they wanted them to be equal. One legislator, in tears, stated, “I do not like standing here and asking my colleagues if I can get married.”Â
Vermont was the first state to approve civil unions for gay couples.
The bill will move to the Governor’s desk after reconciliation tomorrow with the Senate version.
(photo:Â mattindy77)