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
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.
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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.