Understanding Vermont's Same Sex Law

When Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the most sweeping same-sex partnership law in the United States, he called it a "courageous and powerful statement" about his state. But what does the bill, effective July 1, 2000, mean? Here's how to understand the Vermont civil union legislation.

Steps:

1. Note that the law creates civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, and that those aren't exactly the same as marriages.
2. Go to any town clerk in Vermont with your partner and get a license, then have your union certified by a judge or a member of the clergy. That's all there is to the actual union.
3. Expect to get many of the legal rights and privileges of marriage, such as joint property rights, inheritance rights, shared health care benefits, hospital visitation privileges and immunity from having to testify in court against your partner.
4. Forget about getting any of the federal benefits of marriage, such as coveted tax breaks and immigration rights. Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, making sure you wouldn't get those.
5. Try not to get your hopes up about the unions being valid in other states. The Defense of Marriage Act also allows states to ignore same-sex marriage licenses issued elsewhere, and 30 states have banned gay marriages outright.
6. Be aware that nothing stops couples who live anywhere in the United States from coming to Vermont to get a civil union license - it just probably won't do any good in any other state.
7. Understand the implications of the license. Civil unions, according to the law, can be broken up only by the family courts - just like when married couples divorce.

Tips: The Vermont Supreme Court issued a stunning ruling in December 1999 requiring lawmakers there to give same-sex couples the same "benefits and protections that flow from marriage under Vermont Law." That ruling put into motion the series of events that led to the civil union law.