Marriage is historically dynamic, because its contract through the early ages was always a civil union and only in recent history has the church taken marriage for santification. During the early ages heterosexual marriage joined together for monetary reasons and the homosexual marriage for love. As a Vermonter believing in our grassroots democracy and self-government, I can find nothing devastating about two people's union of love being expressed through a lifetime commitment in a marriage contract. The U. S. Supreme Court's William J. Brennan, Jr. has left a legacy of justice for civil rights by suggesting that governmental discrimination against gay people should be judged by the same strict standard as race discrimination. He understood love, human nature and how important it was to protect those types of bonds.
Homosexuals are human beings with the same basic needs as all human beings.
There are lifetimes of same-sex couples in Vermont who have spent thousands of dollars in legal fees for joint insurance, joint parenting and adoption, inheritance, bereavement or sick leave to care for partners of children. Although their children benefit from tons of unconditional love, they are working for the same rights that the heterosexual couple has automatically received. What I believe necessary is to put away our misguided fears, the fear steming from ignorance about a minority group of people and promote our concern for all the citizens of this state by allowing the courts to do their work as the ultimate guardians of civil and constitutional rights.