Vermont Lawmakers Consider Same-Sex Marriage Bill
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Vermont legislators are holding hearings this week on a measure that could make the state the third to allow same-sex marriage.
The state pioneered civil unions, becoming the first to grant them in 2000, but advocates of same-sex marriage have said civil unions are inadequate, and they are pressing for the further rights and recognition that such marriages could bestow.
Democratic leaders, who control both chambers of the Vermont Legislature, pledged earlier this month to pass a same-sex-marriage bill before adjournment in May. The State Senate Judiciary Committee is taking testimony on the legal, social and practical implications of same-sex marriage and is to hear from the public Wednesday night at the State Capitol.
This is a highly charged political issue, and many remember that more than a dozen legislators were voted out of office after they supported civil unions in 2000. The governor, Jim Douglas, a Republican, opposes the bill, saying civil unions go far enough, but he has not specifically said he would veto it.

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