Vermont this morning became the 4th state to allow marriage for same-sex couples, as both the Vermont House and Senate voted to override the veto of Governor Jim Douglas (R-Out-of-touch). By doing so, Vermont became the first state in the country to enact marriage equality without being required to do so by court order.
As expected the Vermont state Senate easily exceeded the required 2/3rds requirement for a veto override, voting 23 to 5 shortly after 10 a.m. this morning. This vote reflected the earlier 26-4 vote in favour of the measure in the Senate. (One Senate Republican – Bill Doyle - who had voted for the bill switched to support the Governor’s veto – presumably in solidarity with his governor, while 2 of the bills supporters were not able to be there for the vote, including Ed Flanagan, the only openly gay member of the Senate, and Phil Scott, one of the Republican supporters.)
The real drama was in the House of Representatives which just after 11 a.m. (eastern) voted 100 to 49 to override, barely exceeding the required 2/3rds.
(More details to follow soon)