Vermont Town Hall votes: 6-1 against same-sex unions The Layman Online Thursday, March 9, 2000 By a margin of about 6-1, town hall meetings in Vermont on March 7 opposed same-sex marriages. The Burlington Free Press, the largest daily newspaper in the state, reported that people attending 31 town meetings voted against recognizing same-sex marriages and four voted in favor. One town reported a tie vote. The Baptist Press reported that in Montpelier, the state capital, 1,500 voters said no to homosexual unions and one town clerk said she would quit her job before she would sign a marriage certificate for a homosexual couple, The votes were taken during an annual exercise in democracy known as "Vermont Town Meeting Day." It's the one day of the year when municipal budgets are decided and town officers are elected. And while opposition was strong to homosexual unions, the ultimate decision rests in the hands of the state legislature. The House is scheduled to take up a bill that would allow same-sex couples to enter "civil unions," which would have the same legal benefits now available to traditionally married couples. The bill was drafted in response to a decision handed down by the Vermont Supreme Court in late December. That ruling said homosexual couples were entitled to the same legal rights and benefits extended to married couples. While granting benefits to same-sex couples, the House bill also affirms that under Vermont law marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

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