Montpelier, Vt., April 8, 2009 – MIL/IR Summary/NYT- Just after a week Iowa Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in that State, giving a strong boost to gay rights groups who want same-sex marriages also in other states, particularly such groups have come up with more more teeth from Vermont and Iowa, who want all gay couples to get married legally.  

New York, New Jersey, Maine and New Hampshire are among those states where such proposals have gained popular support.

The Vermont Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, mustering one more vote than needed to preserve the measure.

 “This is a reminder to those legislatures that they should finish the job,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Marriage Equality, a national advocacy group based in New York. “Contrary to the claims made by the opponents of equality, it’s not just judges, it’s not just the coasts, and it’s not just going away.”

Even opponents of same-sex marriage recognized the week’s developments as a potential watershed moment that could subdue the effect of their Election Day victory in California. Voters there narrowly approved Proposition 8, which amended the state’s Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, effectively reversing a decision by the state’s Supreme Court that had legalized it.

“It’s a bad day for the country,” said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, a group established to fight same-sex marriage. “There is a palpable sense that something has changed and people need to get active.”

Vermont, which in 2000 became the first state to adopt civil unions for gay couples, is now the fourth state to allow same-sex marriage. In addition to Iowa, the others are Connecticut and Massachusetts. More