Recent Posts
Welcome to the New VFM Task Force Website!
This site is dedicated to preserving archival information: video, posts from the legislative session, lists of our business, clergy, and lawyer supporters, and lots of great stuff.
Visit the new Vermont Freedom to Marry Action Committee for updates.
07/26/2010
07/22/2010
Watch the Gubernatorial Primary Candidates Forum for the LGBTQ Community!
Click here to watch the forum that occurred on Monday, July 19, at Champlain College's Alumni Auditorium.
Saturday: March and wave for equality!
This Saturday, march with us
in the Pride Parade!
We have
beautiful signs with the flags of U.S. states & countries where
equal marriage rights are the law of the land. How many can you name
without searching the internet?
WHEN: Saturday, July 24, 11 am
WHERE: Meet up at the Hood Plant on S. Winooski Avenue & King Street in Burlington; March ends at the waterfront in Battery Park -- just in time for the Pride Celebration happening there!To learn more & march with VFM at Pride, please contact Sheryl@vtfreetomarry.org or (802) 353-7286.
For a full listing or Pride Week events, visit the Pride Vermont website.
07/19/2010
Primary candidates forum TONIGHT
Join Outright Vermont,
RU12? Community Center, The Samara Foundation, Vermont CARES, Vermont
Freedom to Marry, Pride Vermont, and Vermont TransAction at a
Gubernatorial Primary Candidates Forum on Monday, July 19th, 6:30pm-8pm.
Hear from confirmed participants Sen. Susan Bartlett, (fmr) Sen. Matt Dunne, Sec. of State Deb Markowitz, Sen. Doug Racine, and Sen. Peter Shumlin about why each should be the Democratic Party nominee for Governor.
TONIGHT'S FORUM is open to the public and will be held at the Alumni Auditorium at Champlain College, 375 Maple Street, Burlington.
In
order to provide our community an opportunity to hear from the range of
minor party and independent candidates who have entered the Governor's
race, the sponsors have scheduled a post-primary forum on October 6.
We urge people to attend BOTH events, and are hopeful that both will
provide opportunities to our supporters to hear from candidates in a
civil and respectful environment.
07/15/2010
Argentina Passes Historic Freedom to Marry Bill
A message from Freedom to Marry, the national freedom to marry advocacy organization
"Becoming the First South American Country to End Exclusion from Marriage"
Statement from Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, on today's passage of a freedom to marry bill in Argentina that makes Argentina the first country in South America to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage:
"Today's historic vote shows how far Catholic Argentina has come, from dictatorship to true democratic values, and how far the freedom to marry movement has come as twelve countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality. Argentina's vote for the freedom to marry marks an important advance for fairness and family values as more couples around the world will now share in marriage, with families helped and no one hurt. Today's vote adds momentum to the international movement to secure the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples."
"Key to Argentina's human rights achievement was strong leadership from legislators and the president. It is time we see more of our own elected officials standing up for the Constitution and all families here in the United States. America should lead, not lag, when it comes to treating everyone equally under the law."
At the request of local leaders, Freedom to Marry submitted testimony to the Argentina Senate in early July.
07/14/2010
Pride Week Events!
As always, we are very excited for Pride! With marriage equality now
the law in Vermont, Vermont Freedom to Marry's presence is all about
the joyful engagement of fully-recognized citizens. Join us at two
events!
1. PRIMARY CANDIDATES FORUM FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY
WHEN: Monday, July 19, 6:30-8pm
WHERE: Alumni Auditorium at Champlain College, 375 Maple
Street, Burlington
Join Outright Vermont, RU12? Community Center, The Samara Foundation, Vermont CARES, Pride Vermont, Vermont TransAction, and Vermont Freedom to Marry. Hear from the candidates facing a primary on August 24th about why they deserve to be their party's candidate for governor. Bring your questions and learn about the candidates' commitment to LGBTQ issues.
Click here to RSVP to this event on Facebook.
2.
PRIDE PARADE
WHEN: Saturday,
July 24, 11 am:
WHERE: Meet up at the Hood Plant on S. Winooski Avenue & King Street
in Burlington; March ends at Battery
To learn more & march with VFM at Pride, please contact Sheryl@vtfreetomarry.org or (802) 353-7286.
For a full listing or Pride Week events, visit the Pride Vermont website.
07/12/2010
Frequently Asked Questions about the July 8 ruling on DOMA Section 3
This post first appeared in the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force website.
Reprinted from GLAD's
website with thanks.
Gill et al. v. Office of Personnel Management et al.
Frequently Asked Questions
On March 3, 2009, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed Gill, et al. v. Office of Personnel Management, et al. in Federal District Court in Boston, to challenge Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA.) Go to http://glad.org/doma for more information.What is this lawsuit about?
This lawsuit challenges the federal government’s denial of marriage-related protections, benefits and responsibilities to legally married same-sex couples – federal protections that are available to all other legally married couples.
The law in question, DOMA Section 3, deprives families of federally-created economic safety nets that couples count on when they marry and that help them take care of each other, to the detriment of those couples and their children and other dependents. It creates a system of first and second class marriages, where the former receive all federal legal protections, and the latter are denied them, even while taking on the responsibilities of marriage.
What is “DOMA Section 3”?
The “Defense of Marriage Act” or DOMA, was passed by Congress in 1996 and signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton. It is codified at 1 U.S.C. section 7. This lawsuit challenges only Section 3 of the law, which excludes legally married same-sex couples from any federal law or program in which marriage is a factor. The General Accounting Office issued a report in 2004 concluding that 1,138 federal laws distinguish based on marital status. The Congressional Budget Office also reported in 2004 that if same-sex couples married nation-wide, the federal government would save $1 billion a year through at least 2014.
What is the legal basis of the lawsuit?
GLAD believes that DOMA Section 3 violates the federal government’s promise of equal protection of the laws contained in the 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution. It singles out just one class of marriages for disrespect and then denies those same-sex couples every single legal protection and responsibility otherwise available to married couples.
DOMA represents an extraordinary intrusion by the federal government into marriage law, an area of law that has always belonged to the states. We believe there is no adequate justification for the federal government’s unprecedented non-recognition of valid state marriages.
Who are the plaintiffs in the case?
The plaintiffs are eight couples and three individuals who, solely because of DOMA Section 3, have been denied legal protections for which they are currently eligible and for which they have applied. They include federal employees, federal retirees, the surviving spouse of a U.S. Congressman, taxpayers, Social Security recipients, and U.S. passport holders (Since the original complaint was filed, the Passport Agency has begun accepting the marriage licenses of same-sex couples as proof of a name change, provided it can be used to effect a name change in that state that issues it. Therefore, GLAD has removed this issue from the amended complaint.) Several of the plaintiffs are the parents of children under the age of 18.
How exactly does DOMA Section 3 harm children?
Among other things, DOMA harms families financially. It forces most to pay more in federal income taxes, and denies many benefits like health insurance and pensions. Parents report being unable to save money for college or retirement, having to work more hours, and choose inferior health plans. When spouses are unable to take Family Medical Leave to care for each other during a serious illness, the stress affects the whole family.
When military spouses are unable to use education benefits, they cannot advance professionally and help their families. And all parents object to the message their children receive that their families are second-class.
What are some of the 1138 federal laws and programs?
- Social Security spousal protections that enhance a family’s economic security while living in old age, or upon disability or death;
- Protections that enable one spouse to stay in the family home when the other spouse needs Medicaid for nursing home care;
- The ability to have a family policy of health insurance, and also to receive family health insurance from an employer without an added tax burden that applies to the cost of coverage for unmarried families;
- Joint tax filing and deductions for married couples that can save families money;
- Family medical leave from a job to care for a seriously ill spouse;
- Disability, dependency or death benefits for the spouses of veterans and public safety officers;
- Employment benefits for federal employees, including access to family health benefits, as well as retirement and death benefits for spouses;
- Estate/death protections that allow a spouse to leave assets to the other spouse – including the family home – without incurring a tax penalty; and
- The ability to sponsor a non-resident spouse for purposes of immigration.
What exactly does DOMA Section 3 do?
Section 3 of DOMA trumps a state’s determination that a same-sex couple is married and says that they are not married for purposes of all federal laws and programs. Under this law, “the word ‘marriage’ means only the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” It requires all federal departments and agencies to disrespect the valid state-licensed marriages of same-sex couples but not marriages of other couples.What is the remedy you seek?
GLAD seeks a ruling that DOMA Section 3 is unconstitutional as applied to the plaintiffs in Federal Income Tax, Social Security, federal employment benefits, and the issuance of passports. GLAD seeks a declaration that Section 3 violates the U.S. Constitution in that it requires the federal government to disrespect a class of valid state marriages in violation of equal protection guarantees of the 5th Amendment.
President Obama has said he supports the repeal of DOMA. Don’t you think DOMA will be dealt with legislatively?
It should be, but despite President Obama’s support of DOMA repeal, it is unlikely this will happen in the next four years. Most political experts agree that achieving the repeal of DOMA is likely to be a long-term proposition. The new President and Congress have many priorities; the LGBT community also has many priorities that probably rank ahead of DOMA repeal, including the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a hate crimes bill, the Uniting American Families Act, and repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Is GLAD trying through this lawsuit to “export” marriage equality from Massachusetts to the other states?
No. This case has no bearing on any state’s marriage licensing or recognition laws – whether those laws allow same-sex couples to marry or respect out-of-state marriages or not. Rather, it is about the relationship between the federal government and a class of people who are married by their state (Massachusetts). The suit asks the federal government to go back to respecting state determinations of marital status. This is not a case seeking a federal constitutional right to marry that would override any state’s marriage laws or amendments.
Will this case reach the Supreme Court, and when?
Long before this case reaches the Supreme Court, this discrimination could be rectified by the Congress. This case deals with important questions of equal protection and the role of the states versus the federal government. Those questions have consistently been part of the Supreme Court’s case load in recent history, and, therefore, the Court will likely see this as an important case if, indeed, it is brought to them at some point in the future. That may not happen, but if it does, it will certainly not be decided by the Supreme Court any earlier than 2013.
If you win this case, will it apply to married same-sex couples in other states, like Connecticut and New York?
Yes. People living in states that license or respect marriage should no longer be denied the federal benefits litigated in GLAD’s case.
Who are the attorneys in the case?
The plaintiffs are represented by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, including Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto, Legal Director Gary D. Buseck, and Staff Attorneys Nima Eshghi and Janson Wu. Co-operating counsel on the case include Foley Hoag LLP (Boston), Sullivan & Worcester LLP (Boston), Jenner & Block LLP (Washington, DC), and Kator, Parks & Weiser, PLLC (Washington, DC).
March 3, 2009
07/09/2010
06/02/2010
BREAKING NEWS: Statement by the President on the Extension of Benefits to Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Federal Employees
Statement from United States President Barack Obama:
“Last year, I issued a Presidential Memorandum that instructed the Office of Personnel Management and the Secretary of State to extend certain available benefits they had identified to gay & lesbian federal employees and their families under their respective jurisdictions. Among those benefits were long-term care insurance and expanded sick leave for civil service employees and medical care abroad, eligibility for employment at posts, cost-of-living adjustments abroad and medical evacuation for domestic partners of foreign service members. In that same Memorandum, I called upon the federal agencies to undertake a comprehensive review and to identify any additional benefits that could be extended to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees under existing law. That process has now concluded, and I am proud to announce that earlier today, I signed a Memorandum that requires Executive agencies to take immediate action to extend to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees a number of meaningful benefits, from family assistance services to hardship transfers to relocation expenses. It also requires agencies that extend any new benefits to employees’ opposite-sex spouses to make those benefits available on equal terms to employees’ same-sex domestic partners to the extent permitted by law.
While this Memorandum is an important step on the path to equality, my Administration continues to be prevented by existing Federal law from providing same-sex domestic partners with the full range of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples. That is why, today, I renew my call for swift passage of an important piece of legislation pending in both Houses of Congress—the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act. This legislation, championed by Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, would extend to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees the full range of benefits currently enjoyed by Federal employees’ opposite-sex spouses. I look forward to signing it into law."
05/25/2010
Call Rep. Welch about "Don't Ask Don't Tell," scheduled for repeal vote THIS WEEK
Have you heard the news? Congress will vote THIS WEEK on a bill that would repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
We know the foes of equal rights won't take this quietly. Our own Congressman, Peter Welch -- a strong supporter of the repeal -- is no doubt getting bombarded with opposition phone calls. Please, let him know we appreciate his unyielding support for equal rights, and for a strong military that values loyal soldiers with much-needed skills.
CONTACT Congressman Peter Welch at (888) 605-7270 or online here.
A letter from President Obama to Congressional leaders has paved the way for the impending vote to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The repeal will be considered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill, rather than the freestanding repeal bill endorsed by Vermont's Congressional delegation. The proposed amendment would provide for immediate repeal of the current DADT law, but would defer actual implementation of the repeal until completion of the Pentagon Working Group study due December 1, 2010. The President, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs would need to certify that implementation policies and regulations are prepared and that they are consistent with standards for readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting, and retention.
Leaders of the national struggle to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" have wholeheartedly endorsed the compromise. It paves the way an end to the unwise and unfair policy, while also respecting the Pentagon's view that the implementation study process that has been underway for some time be respected.
Vermont's entire Congressional delegation supports the repeal of DADT. Representative Welch has co-sponsored a separate House bill to repeal DADT, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) are cosponsors of the Senate versions.
Background: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" prohibits recruiters from asking the sexual orientation of anyone signing on for military service, while forbidding service members from self-identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, engaging in a GLB relationship, or marrying someone of the same gender. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" commenced in 1993 after a compromise between President Bill Clinton (who wanted to lift the ban entirely) and some Congress people and military leadership who opposed any acceptance of GLB individuals serving in the armed forces.
Current estimates are that more than 70% of U.S. service members and 70% of American citizens support the repeal of DADT.
CONTACT Congressman Peter Welch TODAY at (888) 605-7270 or online here to thank him for his unyielding support for equal rights and a strong, inclusive military.
