Back in 2000, Vermont became the first state to recognize same-sex partnerships with civil unions. While the state has since moved on to marriage, it was a ground breaking move at the time, and it was brought on by a 1999 Supreme Court decision in the case of Baker versus the state of Vermont.

The Vermont House gave preliminary approval Friday to a bill that would require out-of-state employers to offer the same health coverage to employees with a same-sex partner as those provided to their employees in a heterosexual marriage.

When Maine last voted on same-sex marriage in 2009, a debate over what school teachers would be forced to say to children about gay marriage dominated the discussion. This time around, the topic has remained largely on the sidelines.

A federal appeals court that covers Vermont, New York and Connecticut says the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

A Justice Department lawyer has been forced by a federal appeals panel in New York to explain the government's decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act.

Vermont is joining with New York and Connecticut in filing a brief urging a federal court to strike down the law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell says the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, denies same-sex couples of a wide range of federal benefits.

Jury selection is set to begin in a Vermont federal court today for a Virginia man charged with helping a woman flee the United States with her daughter, rather than share custody of the girl with her former same-sex partner.

A federal judge in Connecticut has ruled that part of a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and denies federal benefits to married gay couples is unconstitutional.

The highest court in Massachusetts has found that civil unions for same-sex couples in Vermont should be treated as the equivalent of marriage in Massachusetts.

A bi-national same-sex couple in Dummerston has been given a reprieve on the deportation of one spouse, but advocates say it's only a temporary victory.

A group of lawmakers tried and failed to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law. If they had been successful, New Hampshire would have become the first state in the nation to repeal same sex marriage by an act of the legislature.

Peony problems, compost conundrums, and dandelion dilemmas? Garden expert Charlie Nardozzi joins us live to answer your questions.

The American Civil Liberties Union says a Northeast Kingdom inn discriminated against a lesbian couple who wanted to hold a wedding reception. The ACLU accuses the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville of violating the state public accommodations law, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

A Nebraska judge has denied a divorce for a lesbian couple married in Vermont, saying he can't dissolve a marriage that isn't recognized by his state.

Two new lawsuits have been filed on behalf of gay and lesbian couples in four states to challenge a 1996 law denying married same sex couples federal benefits.

A federal court in California ruled that a state referendum that banned gay marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. Beth Robinson argued the Baker case in Vermont in 1997. That's the state Supreme Court case that led to civil unions. She then lobbied over almost a decade to persuade the state to adopt full marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

VPR's Mitch Wertlieb talks with Felicia Kornbluh, Director Women's and Gender Studies at UVM. Kornbluh is taking part in a conference that examines Vermont's history in crafting laws regarding who can legally marry.

New Hampshire's six-week old same sex marriage law has survived a challenge.

New Hampshire's House votes tomorrow on whether to repeal the state's six-week-old law legalizing same-sex marriage.

A House committee is recommending against repealing New Hampshire's five-week-old same-sex marriage law.

A House committee will recommend whether New Hampshire's five-week-old same-sex marriage law should be repealed.

Three weeks after New Hampshire legalized same sex marriage, opponents are asking the House to repeal the law and let voters amend the constitution to define marriage exclusively as between a man and a woman.

It's been a decade since the Vermont Supreme Court ruled in a groundbreaking case that led to the state's civil unions law.

The New York Senate vote knocking down same sex marriage is one of the few times in Albany when the outcome of a vote wasn't known before the measure went to the floor.