April 15, 2009

Vermont legalizes same-sex marriage; D.C. recognizes same-sex unions

BURLINGTON, Vt. (CNS)—Vermont legislators voted to override the governor’s veto of same-sex marriage legislation April 7, making the state the fourth to allow same-sex marriage and the first to do so without a court order. The same day, the District of Columbia Council voted to recognize same-sex unions formalized in other states. Both votes came less than a week after the Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to legalize gay marriage by striking down a state law defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The Vermont law will allow same-sex marriages in the state beginning in September. The two houses of the Vermont Legislature voted in early April on the same-sex-marriage legislation. The votes were four short of the number needed to override a veto and Gov. Jim Douglas vetoed the measure April 6. Some legislators changed their votes April 7 to override the governor’s veto in a 100-49 vote. During a March hearing about the same-sex marriage legislation, called the Freedom to Marry Act, Bishop Salvatore R. Matano of Burlington defended the Church’s opposition to same-sex marriages, saying it has been the Catholic Church’s “consistent teaching ... that marriage is the union of man and woman.”