The Supreme Court Ruled on Friday that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.
The 5-4 vote is a victory for the gay rights movement.
The following story was published July 2013, when the Supreme Court overturned the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act
For Local Lawmakers, DOMA Decision Years In The Making
By Virginia Dean
Standard Correspondent
Responding to the recent overturning of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act in California by the United States Supreme Court last week, potentially clearing the way for same-sex marriage in all states, Windsor-1 State Representative Donna Sweaney (Dem) was hard pressed to hold back her excitement.
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear me yelling for joy all the way to Woodstock!” she declared. “It was the best news I’ve heard from the Supreme Court.” Other than “crying for joy” when she heard the DOMA ruling, Sweaney called a close friend in California to congratulate him and his partner and requested to be invited to their wedding.
“He had spent a great deal of time here in Vermont during our struggle with passing civil unions,” Sweaney said. “I also called him to share my feelings about this long overdue decision with a local couple, for whom my husband – a justice of the peace – officiated their civil union on the first day that was available, and their wedding on the first day that was legal here in Vermont.” Sweaney said she long remembers the tension throughout Vermont, and particularly the Statehouse, during the civil unions debate.
“I was witness to many remarkably courageous people who were willing to stand up and raise their voices for justice and equality,” Sweaney said.
“Many of them, including myself, had people we had assumed were friends express their disagreement.
Some even turned their backs on us.”
But, the vast majority recognized the merits of the arguments for equality, and assumed no harm would come to standard marriages from this change.’ Now, however, in the 12 states – including Vermont -where same-sex marriage is legal, married same-sex couples will not get the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples including inheritance, Social Security benefits, pension, and health care insurance benefits.
Same-sex couples can also file federal income taxes jointly and spouses who are from outside the U.S.
will get the immigration benefits that come with marriage.
The springboard for this occurred last Wednesday, June 26, when the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 ruling, striking down part of DOMA as unconstitutional. The ruling invalidated a provision in the 1996 law that had prevented married gay couples from receiving a range of tax, health and retirement benefits that generally are available to married people.
Supporters at RU12 filled the Community Center in Burlington last Wednesday awaiting the decision.
“We were glued to the Supreme Court of the U.S. blog,” said one attendant. “When the decision was about to be announced, the chatter hushed immediately. When the 5-4 decision came down, cheers erupted and tears began to flow. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.” Kim Fountain, executive director of RU12? said the organization’s phones were ringing off the hook.
‘People were sending the Center message after supportive message,’ Fountain remarked. ‘Certainly, there is work to be done. However, this victory means so much to so many people, and it will serve to propel us forward to even more victories.’ Fountain explained that the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) community will now have access to more than 1,100 rights that were previously denied based on discriminatory beliefs.
“From spousal benefits to relief for bi-national couples, our safety net grows wider,” Fountain said.
On the one level, reaction was mixed. “We are very pleased,’ said Dory Rice of Barnard. ‘Vermont has led the way for equality for all Vermonters, and we are delighted that the U.S. Supreme Court is moving the country forward.’ Rice and Kate Olgiati were married June 12, 2010 in Barnard.
Woodstock resident Keri Bristow said she was not surprised about the recent ruling.
“I had expected it for some time,” Bristow stated. ‘My convictions as a Christian are that God’ s plan for marriage, which is one man with one woman, is the one I personally believe.’ ‘However,’ Bristow continued, “I recognize that American culture has shifted its values to embrace a wider definition so it comes as no surprise to me. Since I believe in the sovereignty of God in all things, I am not concerned and will continue to love my neighbor as myself. If I didn’t believe that God is in control of all things, I’d sure be frantic about many things in our world.” Although pro-decision,another local and married same-sex resident, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed concern about the ruling.
“I’m disappointed a little because I didn’t realize this still doesn’t mean we’re married in every state.
I’m a little embarrassed at seeing what’s still missing. It’s nonetheless a huge step. I’m thrilled.’ State Senator Alice Nitka (D-Windsor-Rutland 1) served on the House Judiciary Committee in 2000 as a House member from Ludlow when Civil Unions were created and again in 2009 on the Senate Judiciary Committee when the full Marriage Equality bill was passed.
Nitka has been a Vermont State Senator since 2006 and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, a member of the Judicial Retention Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee.
Thirteeen yearsago, Vermont became the first state to legalize civil unions, a controversial issue at the time resulting in a long and bitter debate at the Statehouse. Nitka voted for the civil unions measure.
Nine years later, she stood up for full marriage equality.
‘I didn’t realize it would actually happen,” Nitka said. ‘I am surprised and pleasedthatDOMA wasoverturned. It means so much in terms of getting equal rights for persons who neededthesebenefits. The tax benefits and responsibilities that go with it are very important for our whole country.’ Alison Clarkson (D-Windsor 5), a state representative to the Vermont Legislature where she has represented the towns of Reading and Woodstock since 2005, also voted for marriage equality was one of the sponsors of the bill.
“I’m thrilled with the DOMA decision,” said Clarkson who served on the House Judiciary Committee for her first two terms before serving on the House Ways and Means Committee, as chair of the Legislative Council Committee, co-Chair of the Women’s Caucus, and Chair of the Windsor County Caucus. ‘As we discovered in marriage equity, there are over a thousand rights that go with the federal laws on marriage.
It’s staggering how many there are.
It strikes one as absurdly high. We now need to get more states to pass it.’ Along the same vein, Bill Lippert, Hinesburg State Representative and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, was also delighted at the news.
“It’s phenomenal,” Lippert said.
“I’m thrilled first on a personal level because I’ve been in a same-sex marriage since 2009 so it affects us directly. But even more, beyond the personal excitement, is just the amazing progress we have made in what is a relatively short time since 2000 with the creation of civil unions, the first legal representation for same sex couples anywhere in the US.” Lippert commented that there wasn’t the political support for marriage equality 13 years ago.
‘So to go from having created the first legal recognition in the U.S. to the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledging the significance of same-sex marriage is short for the amount of progress made,’ he said. ‘Including California and the District of Columbia, one-third of the U.S. is now legally supportive of same-sex marriage.’ Lippert said he was the only open gay representativeinthe Vermont General Assembly in 1999-2000.
At that time, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that state constitution mandated thatsame-sexcouples receive the same rights and benefits as heterosexual married couples but allowed the Legislature to arbitrarily decide the specifics.
In 2009, Lippert said, the Vermont Legislature enacted a law allowing same-sex couplestomarry . Governor Jim Douglas vetoed the bill, but lawmakers overrode the veto. In the same year, there was a challenge filed to California referendum – Prop 8 – which became one of the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
‘There was a lot of pressure and a lot of attack but it was still a tremendous opportunity,’ said Lippert who mentioned that Vermont is the first state in the country to legislate marriage equality without a court order directing it to do so.
“As the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, I presented the bill on the floor,” Lippert said. “So, I’ve had the privilege to be a key player in civil unions and marriage equality in Vermont.’ For the38statesnotof fering same-sex marriage,DOMA still allows them to enact their own laws banning same-sex marriage.
So, as one local resident pointed out, if a couple is married where it is allowed and moves to a state where it is banned, they might receive federal support but would not receive state benefits.
“We still have a way to go,” the anonymous resident said. “…this victory means so much to so many people, and it will serve to propel us forward to even more victories.”