And Then There Were Four

Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage and the first state to legalize it through legislative action. The Vermont legislation this morning overrode a veto by Republican Governor Jim Douglas and signed the bill into law.

I don’t know how much of a role the earlier decision, by the Iowa Supreme Court, that Iowa’s one man, one woman marriage statute was unconstitutional played in the override decision, but I suspect it may have been critical in getting enough votes in the Vermont House of Representatives.

Now the battle shifts to California, New York and New Jersey.

In California, the California Supreme Court must decide if it will overturn the Proposition 8 ballot initiative which reinstated a gay marriage ban after the Supreme Court had declared the ban unconstitutional. The question before the court is whether Proposition 8 is more than a simple amendment and strips fundamental legal protections from a specific minority.

New York, where out of state gay marriages are already recognized, and New Jersey are both working toward legislative approval of gay marriage.

And the Zeitgeist moves forward again. “So comrades, come rally, and the last fight let us face.”