Surprise Win for Marriage Equality as Vermont Leg Overrides Governor's Veto

My understanding was that the Vermont Legislature, which legalized same-sex marriage last week, was a couple of votes shy of overriding the promised veto by GOP governor Jim Douglas. They needed 100 votes in the state's House of Representatives, and they got ... 100 votes.

Burlington Free Press:

Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature’s vote.

The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

It’s now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others...

The Vermont Senate voted earlier this morning to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of the same-sex marriage legislation.

The vote passed, 23-5.