Source: WCAX TV, Hartford Courant, WFFF TV
Vermont Senator John Campbell says that he will reintroduce a bill in January that would recognize marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

Campbell presented the same bill in last legislative session, which lead to the creation of the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection, WCAX TV reports.

The commission held eight hearings across the state in 2007, and the early part of 2008, and ultimately submitted a report to lawmakers that said civil unions fall short of establishing equal rights and protections of legal marriage. Senator Campbell served on that commission and says he was moved by the testimony he heard, according to WCAX.

He said the commission found Vermonters would accept marriage for gay and lesbian couples, but still called the issue a political land mine, according to WFFF TV. 

"We would not be saying different religious organizations would have to recognize these same sex marriages.  It's a secular issue; an equal-rights issue," Campbell said.

Campbell says he hopes his bill gets addressed during the next session but knows that the state also has some other major issues to tackle.

"It's our duty to prioritize," he said, according to WCAX. "Same thing with an emergency room, we have to triage the issues right now there is a very very important issue and that is the fact that this economy is bleeding, we need to stop that bleeding. So then we look to other issues. This is one of hundreds of bills that will be introduced come January."

Governor Douglas has said he does not support marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples, but has not said whether he would veto such a bill.

If it does become law, Vermont would be the third state to allow same-sex marriages, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut. California allowed same-sex marriages this year but voters recently passed Proposition 8, which creates a ban on gay marriage.

Meanwhile, the advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which argued the cases that brought marriage equality to Massachusetts and Connecticut, has said it expects all six New England states will legalize same-sex marriage by 2012.

"We can make New England a marriage equality zone by strategically combining existing legal, electoral, and on-the-ground know-how to fast-track marriage in every New England state," said Lee Swislow, GLAD executive director. "By 2012 we not only can have marriage equality throughout New England, we can have a road map for the rest of the country."

Source: Senator To Reintroduce Gay Marriage Bill | WCAX TV
Six by '12 | Hartford Courant
VT Lawmaker to Introduce Gay Marriage Legislation | WFFF TV

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