VT: Howard Dean urges passage of marriage equality bill

Good on Dean!

Now THIS makes me wanna yell "Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah!"

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by: Louise @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 07:04:18 AM CDT

I'm glad...

That Howard Dean has finally come to his senses and embraced full equality. While his signing of the VT civil unions bill was a great step forward, it clearly kept gay & lesbian couples at less than equal status. I'm glad he sees that now, and hopefully enough legislators will pay attention to override Douglas' veto.

Act on Principles and make equality happen.  

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by: atdnext @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 08:48:48 AM CDT

Context

When Dean signed the civil unions bill, it was the first time that our relationship had any legal standing anywhere.  It was before gay marriage in Massachussetts, and (I believe) made gay marriage in Massachussetts possible.

I don't believe that he was ever against marriage equality; if he ever made any comments in support of civil unions in particular, it was likely in the context that civil unions were politically possible in Vermont at that time, whereas gay marriage in Vermont was not.  And he was probably right.  And, he knew that granting civil unions was a step that would eventually pave the way for marriage equality in Vermont and everywhere else.  I don't think he's had a big change of heart about that.

"There are two kinds of people in this world -- the kind who separate the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't."  -- Gloria Steinem

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by: red7eric @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 09:02:52 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I Heart Dean

He was the ONLY politician I know of who came forward and supported Merrill's "Gay Tax Protest" (but the media was silent) and he believed that we as a community have the right to tax revolt against the governmental abuse we endure daily.


Decades MORE of Psychological Abuse? - OR - Stonewall.  Nationwide.  NOW!

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by: John Bisceglia @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 11:35:29 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

EXACTLY!!!!

Glad to know someone finally gets it!  Or at least is finally articulating what many of us have known all along!

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by: homoaffectional @ Fri Apr 03, 2009 at 01:21:04 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I heart Dr. Dean

Not sure what the personal dynamics are between Barack Obama and Howard Dean, but I was hoping he'd be tapped as the new Health & Human Services Sec'y when Daschle dropped out.

"There are two kinds of people in this world -- the kind who separate the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't."  -- Gloria Steinem

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by: red7eric @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 08:59:30 AM CDT

Glad to see Dean evolving.

When he signed the CU bill by court order, he did it in a secret dark little corner  of his office, deliberately staying out of the spotlight, like what he was doing was dirty.  It's a big step to be saying what he is saying publicly.  Good for him.  If he can help make legal LGBT equality a reality in VT and elsewhere, I might even forgive him for his blatant anti-gay politicking during his tenure as party chair.

And he's right - legislators need to do the right thing and get on board with equality.  It's the American way, and it is nice to see more and more of them doing so.

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Lurleen on Twitter.

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by: Lurleen @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 11:24:17 AM CDT

UPDATE - House Committee Vote

Just a short time ago the House Judiciary Committee voted 8-2 to pass the bill.  They made a few changes before taking the vote.  From the Burlington Free Press:

Before the vote, the committee added an amendment to the bill to strengthen protections for religious organizations that choose not to recognize same-sex marriage, an addition that was tied to Scheuermann's supporting the bill. The amendment means that the bill will have to either return to the Senate after the full House's action or go to a conference committee of representative's from both chambers to work out the differences.

Meanwhile, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas' offices have received some 1,500 letters and messages, two days after he pledged to veto a same-sex marriage bill,

Read the whole story here:  http://twurl.nl/wcxsf2

The House will debate the bill on Thursday and a vote is expected Thursday afternoon or Friday.

For those of you on Twitter - follow updates by searching #vtfreetomarry or #vtgaymarriage

Also on Facebook - check out this group started less than a week ago:

http://www.facebook.com/profil...

Over 13,000 members as of this morning!  

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by: Jess Wilson @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 11:45:45 AM CDT

hmmmm...

If they feel the need to strengthen protections for religious organizations, did they offer an ammendment to allow Catholic churches to not recognize the new marriages of previously divorced heterosexuals since that goes against their deeply held religious beliefs?  It would only seem fair to me.

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by: timNC @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 12:05:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I wonder why they were placating Scheuermann.

If the article is right and they added this amendment to placate Scheuermann, I wonder why they bothered since her vote wasn't needed to pass it out of committee.  Maybe she holds sway with other religious scardycats in the chamber?

ANyone have a link to the amendment?  It sounds unconstitutional, but I'd have to read it to form a real opinion.

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Lurleen on Twitter.

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by: Lurleen @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 14:49:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's really nice

and all but it's funny how Howard Dean and Al Gore all "evolved" to support marriage after they finished running for office. Now they can pat themselves on the back and feel so good about themselves.  

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by: DilworthDem @ Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 14:08:40 PM CDT