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HRC & Civil Unions
Thanks so much for the continu-
i_ng great work. It’s thankless
and much appreciated.

I wanted to respond to
your recent story about Cheryl
Jacques’ appointment to HRC,
and the question of I-lRC’s role
in the Vermont civil union strug-
gle. I’m'son'y I wasn’t available
to comment for your story; I’m
the person who has dealt most
directly with HRC over the past
several years. ~
>>
lt’s true that HRC’s role in con— .
nection with the long—term grass-
roots struggle, and the lawsuit,
leading to the passage of the
civil union bill was limited.

 

They respected our request that
out-of-state glbtq political
groups let us do our own heavy
lifting here in-Vermont.
However, after the law passed,
when the backlash set in, our
allies at HRC were invaluable in '
helping to mobilize resources for
the 2000 campaign. Again in
2002, HRC continued to make
Vermont a priority, actually plac-
ing a political organizer on the
ground here and again helping to
recruit donors for VCU. HRC

"has twice awarded our lobbying

organization, VCULDF, grants ' »
($5,000) from the HRC Equality
Fund, designed to help fund lob-
bying at the state level. Along
withmany other organizations,

 

HRC has been a valuable partici-_

pant in the work to establish and
protect civil unions.

The main credit for the
law obviously goes to the
Vermont activists and donors
who made countless sacrifices to
make it possible. But we could
not have done it alone: New
England’s glbtq legal‘ advocacy
organization, Gay & Lesbian
Advocates & Defenders
(GLAD), co—counsel in the
Baker case and invaluable con-
sultants during the lobbying
phase, stand out as the main
organization to thank. National
Center for Lesbian Rights
(N CLR) provided an exception-
ally generous grant ($40,000), as

 

did the Gill Foundation, to sup-
port the Vermont Freedom to
Marry Task Force’s 2000 public
education media campaign; the
National Gay & Lesbian Task
Force (NGLTF) helped train a
VCU representative for the 2000
campaign.

Lambda Legal Defense
& Education Fund, the ACLU,
NCLR, NOW, and various
Vermont religious and profes-
sional organizations filed sup-
portive briefs in the Baker case;
the Log Cabin Republicans pro-
vided substantial support on the
ground to pro-civil union
Republicans in the 2000 elec-
tion; and HRC assisted in the
ways outlined above.

   

leah wittenburg

 

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Weshould be proud of
the work we Vermonters did in
leading the nation forward and
laying the foundation for the
next step, but we’re also grateful
for the support we received from
so many supporters outside of
Vermont. Given an achievement
of this magnitude, there’s plenty
of credit to go around.

Thanks!
Beth Robinson
Vermonters for Civil Unions

          
 

   

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