When the Bible Enters the Fray
As Vermont legalizes civil unions for same-sex couples, both sides of the debate turn to the Bible for support. They might do better to turn to Bible scholars, too.
At 12:01 a.m. on July 1st, gay and lesbian couples in Vermont became eligible to receive the same state law protections and responsibilities that are available to spouses in a marriage, thanks to the state’s recently passed Civil Unions bill. The first civil unions were performed that day.
For gay and lesbian couples, the fight for this legislation has been long, involving an initial suit heard in 1997 in Vermont’s Chittenden County Superior Court; a subsequent appeal of the Superior Court’s negative decision to the state’s Supreme Court; the decision by the Supreme Court in December 1999 requiring that the legislature create a system providing the benefits and protections of marriage to same-sex couples; and several months of legislative hearings in early 2000 before Vermont’s governor, Howard Dean, signed the Civil Unions bill on April 26, 2000.
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