Vermont, first State to have civil unions, now the fifth State where same-sex marriages are legal

[ck4829]

After 17 years together, Bill Slimback and Bob Sullivan couldn't wait another minute to get married. So they didn't.

With Vermont's new law allowing same-sex marriage only a minute old, they tied the knot in a midnight ceremony at a rustic Vermont lodge, becoming one of the first couples to legally wed under a law that took effect at midnight Monday.

Dressed in suits, saying their vows under a large wall-mounted moose head, the two Whitehall, N.Y., men promised their love, exchanged rings and held hands during a modest 17-minute ceremony. Moose Meadow Lodge co-owner Greg Trulson, who's also a Justice of the Peace, presided.

"It feels wonderful," said Slimback, 38, an out-of-work Teamster who is taking Sullivan's last name as his own. "It's a day I've been long waiting for, and a day I truly honestly thought would never come."

Slimback said he and Sullivan, 41, have long wanted to cement their relationship with a wedding, but since they couldn't legally marry in New York they chose to wed even before Vermont's gay marriage era officially dawned.

Vermont is one of five states that now allow same-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Iowa are the others.

Vermont, which invented civil unions in 2000 after a same-sex couple challenged the inequality of state marriage statutes, was a mecca for gay couples who to that point had no way to officially recognize their relationships.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090901/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_marriage

Very good news.

[cali]

1. also the first state to legislate marriage equality and surely it will remain

the only state to override a gubernatorial veto of marriage equality.

It's a glorious day here in Vermont.

[Ohio Joe]

2. Congrats Vermont! K&R - nt

[polichick]

3. Great news! nt

[ccharles000]

4. k/r

[safeinOhio]

5. I'm really getting to like Vermont

Same sex marriage, Howard Dean, Bernie Sanders and no CCW required to carry a hand gun, and all of this in a small Eastern rural state. I'm really thinking of moving there.
Please, any DU Vermonters fill me in on some of the pros and cons.

[pipi_k]

11. Don't live there, but I've visited many times

and got married in Readsboro.

But I really loved Brattleboro. Very neat city.

:)

[customerserviceguy]

6. Under the new law

did civil unions automatically convert to the full status of marriages? Or would there be two possible states of same-sex union?

[lunatica]

7. Slowly but surely the idea of equality is winning

This news is very heartening in today's climate.

[CanonRay]

8. What? The capitol dome wasn't hit by lightning?

All the hetero couples didn't file for divorce?

[Jennicut]

9. Maine and NH are next.

September 11, 2009 is the date the Maine law goes into affect but could be voted down in the Nov. elections there.
NH starts allowing same sex marriage on Jan 1st 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States

[pipi_k]

10. Ironic, in a way....

That the New England area...founded upon the principles of Puritanism, and still a bit "prudish" in some areas, would be the virtual starting point of something this Liberal...

We do live in interesting times...

:)