Vermont HCR 127: House concurrent resolution congratulating the 2019 Essex High School Vermont Treasury Cup Challenge championship team

Bill Text

R-151 Page 1 of 1
2025

VT LEG #383404 v.1
No. R-151. House concurrent resolution commemorating the 25th anniversary of Act
91 of 2000, establishing Vermont as the first state to legalize civil unions.
(H.C.R.127)
Offered by Representative Emmons of Springfield
Offered by Senator Cummings
Whereas, on December 20, 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court issued the landmark
decision, Baker v. State, 170 Vt. 194, holding that the exclusion of same-sex couples
from access to the benefits and rights of marriage licenses under Vermont’s law violated
the Common Benefits Clause of the Vermont Constitution, and
Whereas, the Court allowed the General Assembly to consider and enact legislation
consistent with the constitutional mandate described in its decision that could be civil
marriage or a different legal status that delivered “the common benefits and protections
that flow from marriage under Vermont law,” and
Whereas, in 2000, the House Committee on Judiciary, after researching the law and
history of marriage and taking testimony from hundreds of witnesses offering differing
viewpoints, introduced H.847 to establish the legal status of civil union for gay and
lesbian couples, and
Whereas, on March 16, 2000, after intense and extensive debate, the House advanced
the bill to the Senate, and
Whereas, the Senate Committee on Judiciary conducted a vigorous review of the
House’s work, took testimony from people across the State, revised the bill, and on April
19, 2000, approved an amended version, and
Whereas, on April 25, 2000, the House concurred with the Senate amendments,
sending the bill to Governor Howard Dean, who, on April 26, 2000, signed H.847 into
law as Act 91, and
Whereas, without the Vermonters who risked their safety and more to challenge
Vermont’s marriage law, in particular, the Baker case plaintiffs, Stan Baker and Peter
Harrigan, Nina Beck and Stacy Jolles, and Lois Farnham and Holly Puterbaugh, and their
attorneys, Beth Robinson, Susan M. Murray, and Mary Bonauto, Act 91 would never
have been enacted, and
Whereas, Vermont was the first state in the nation to enact civil unions legislation, and
Act 91 was the foundation for the enactment of Act 3 of 2009, the nation’s first marriage
equality statute, now therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly commemorates the 25th anniversary of Act 91 of 2000
establishing Vermont as the first state to legalize civil unions, and be it further
Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
the Baker v. State plaintiffs and their attorneys, to the Pride Center of Vermont, and to
Outright Vermont.