2005 Volume 5 Pages 96-107
In Baker v. State (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court held that the Vermont Constitution guaranteed same-sex couples the same legal benefits, protections, and responsibilities provided to heterosexual-married couples. This historical decision also gave the legislature the opportunity to choose between opening up the civil marriage institution to include gay and lesbian couples or creating a parallel system that provides the benefits of civil marriage to same-sex couples. This Article introduces the events which led to the Baker case and those that occurred during the court’s deliberations and in the aftermath of the decision. By tracing the deliberative process during the formation of the civil union law, the roles of each actor in the political branches, the Supreme Court, and Vermont civil society will be clarified. In addition, some tentative implications will be provided by taking a look at the following: (1)“full-incarnated strangers” on the side of proponents of same-sex marriage, (2)“self-destroying strategies” that the conservative lawmakers and religious extremists took for the battle over the civil union law, (3)“the triggering role of judicial review” that made it possible to leave room for the democratic deliberation on a hard moral issue, and to make those concerned even more committed to the deliberation.
