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Marriage-Equality Advanced in 2009; Maine Balked

Saturday, January 2, 2010
By Melinda Tuhus, Women’s ENEWS Correspondent

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WOMENSENEWS)--For a while it looked like all of New England—with the exception of tiny Rhode Island—would turn rainbow-hued in 2009.

Three states—Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine—passed marriage-equality laws during the year, joining similar laws in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

But while New Hampshire’s same-sex marriage law took effect Jan. 1 and Vermont’s a few months earlier, on Sept. 1, 2009, Maine proved the spoiler.

Meanwhile, in nearby New York, a marriage-equality bill was defeated Dec. 3 by an unexpectedly large margin in the state Senate, despite strong support from Gov. David Paterson. One of the opposition votes was from Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who was on trial for assaulting his girlfriend.

In New Jersey, marriage-equality advocates are pushing hard to get a bill through the legislature before Jan. 19 so it can be signed by outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine, a strong supporter of the measure. The incoming governor, Republican Christopher Christie, opposes same-sex marriage.

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