ne question has recurred in

public and private discus-

sions of the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court ruling over-
turning‘ the commonwealth’s ban on
‘same-gender marriage: Will activists
in Vermont now seek legislative
action to secure full equality in mar-
riage? -

‘‘There’s no question that
the ultimate goal remains genuine
equality, that is, marriage,” said Beth
Robinson, one of the attorneys in the
-, historic Baker v. State lawsuit, which
culminated in Vermont’s civil unions
law. “The passage of the civil union

    

law doesn’t change that, and we’ve
never stopped pushing for marriage.”

Sherry Corbin, of the
Vermont Freedom to.Marry Task
Force, is somewhat less affirmative.
“I can’t really say we’re going to '
push for legislative action this year,”
Corbin said in a phone interview. “I
don’t think we’re ready.” V

“The question is_really one
of timing andtactics,” added
Robinson in an email. “We spent
years doing political and educational
work in chapter one of this saga (cul-
minating in the civil union law), and
in my judgment our focus at this time

needs to be on the political and edu-
cational work to lay the groundwork
in the next chapter.”

The Task Force acknowl-
edges there remain some things to be

fixed, Corbin said‘. “The Vermont law "
‘ doesn’t do anything for us on a feder-

al level, and some of us hoped it
would. Marriages are taken for grant-
ed, and civil unions are not treated
the same, still, in many places.”
Corbin cited bringing non-citizen
partners into the country as one
example of a federal law unaffected
by civil union.

“Dammit, we went through

all this hell, and we won’t get to be
the first state with a [gay] marriage
law. I feel both elation [for
Massachusetts] and frustration, espe-

‘V cially as a born Vermonter — I wanted
us to be first,” Corbin added. There

will likely be no move in the 2004
legislature to change Vermont’s mar-
riage law, she said.

At the same time,‘Corb'in
cautioned that conservative groups
may use reaction to the

‘Massachusetts ruling to push for

more restrictive language in the mar-
riage statutes.’ .
Vermont is one of only 14

 Will VT Go For Gay Marriage?

states plus the District of Columbia
that has not passed a so-called mini-
DOMA, or state law mirroring the
federal Defense of Marriage Act. v
That law allows (but does not
require) states to refuse to comply
with the full faith and credit clause of
the U. S. Constitution with respect to
recognizing same-sex marriages per-
formed in other states. It also denies
recognition of gay marriages or simi-
lar arrangements by the federal gov-
ernment by defining “marriage” and
“spouse” as applying solely to part-
ners ofthe opposite sex. ,7