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Gay Marriage Debate Remains Civil

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By JOHN CURRAN, The Associated Press

Published: January 14, 2008

MONTPELIER, Vt. - For many who lived through Vermont's not-so-civil debate over civil unions, the memories remain painfully fresh: hate mail, threatening telephone messages, tense public meetings.

This time around, as the state weighs whether to legalize gay marriage, the debate is noticeably tamer with little of the vitriol and recrimination that surrounded its groundbreaking 2000 decision to legally recognize gay and lesbian couples.

It's early: Lawmakers say they're unlikely to push for a vote this year on pending legislation that would legalize gay marriage, although a state-appointed panel has been gathering public input and is due to report to the Legislature in April.

Although that absence of an impending vote may be what's keeping things civil, people involved in the debate have noticed a change in atmosphere.

"It's a very different tenor," said Beth Robinson, chairwoman of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, which supports gay marriage. "People have had an opportunity to come to terms."

On Dec. 20, 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that barring same-sex unions was unconstitutional and ordered the Legislature to come up with a law accommodating them. That triggered a yearlong battle in which a state that prides itself on tolerance seemed to lack it.

When the law took effect July 1, 2000, it didn't quell the controversy or the fallout.

"It was quite rancorous," said Stephen Cable, founder of Vermont Renewal, which opposed civil unions then and opposes gay marriage now.

"It was a time unlike anything since the Vietnam War era, when you had the sense that the whole world around you was divided," said David Moats, author of "Civil Wars: A Battle For Gay Marriage," a book about Vermont's civil unions controversy.

Last summer, the Legislature appointed an 11-member Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection to explore the idea of gay marriage and hear how Vermonters feel about it. The panel, which opponents say is stacked with gay marriage supporters and have boycotted, has held seven hearings and has three more scheduled.

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