Word: vermont
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Though the Vermont bill gives gay and straight couples nearly the same legal rights, it recognizes gay partnerships as "civil unions" and explicitly states that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman...
Since the bill is limited to rights and privileges protected by the state, federally provided services like Social Security and Medicare benefits, as well as immigration rights are not affected. Further, the civil unions would not be recognized outside of Vermont...
...Vermont Supreme Court found in December that gay couples were being denied the benefits of marriage merely because of their sexual orientation. Such discrimination, the court held, violated the state constitution's "common benefits clause," which applies to all the state's residents and not merely heterosexuals...
Opponents of the Vermont initiative and of gay marriage in general said they were disturbed by the legislature's disregard of social norms...
...heels of the Vermont court decision in December which precipitated last week's bill, conservatives said the state had propagated its own political agenda in conferring legitimacy to behavior that a majority of Americans find to be immoral...