Out In The Mountains : News - VT Leg., CU and Fed. Rights

       Montpelier – In a then-little-noticed move at the end of the last legislative session, Senator Rep. Alison Clarkson (D-Woodstock) began circulating, with Matt Dunne (D- Hartland), a letter to Congressional leaders. At the behest of constituent Steve Swayne and his partner Mike Backman of Woodstock, the letter urged House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to extend federal marriage benefits to civil union partners.
      A copy of the letter was also presented to Rep. Barney Frank on his fundraising visit to the Green Mountain State in late October. The funds Frank was raising were for Democratic candidates for the Vermont House.
       The letter began as a request for a resolution, Swayne said. "My representative, Alison Clarkson, worked the system as much as she could, and the leadership determined that a letter would be the best way to go." He said Clarkson was a personal friend who attended the couple's civil union. Swayne, an associate professor in the music department of Dartmouth College, drafted much of the content of the letter by way of information provided to the Legislative Counsel while its staff was working on the originally proposed resolution.
         "We are trying to shore up a right we already have here" in Vermont, said Rep. Clarkson. "We wanted to hold President Bush accountable for the states' rights statements he had made. And we wanted to add to the foundation of rights that the state can extend." Clarkson urged members of the community and allies to follow up on the letter with Rep. Barney Frank and with Rep. Bernie Sanders.
       "This letter was not meant to undermine any movement toward marriage equality," Clarkson explained.
       "I support any step in moving us toward equality," said Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force Chairwoman Beth Robinson. She said Rep. Jason Lorber (D- Burlington) kept the Task Force in the loop while the letter was being circulated.
       Rep. Lorber maintained that the letter was a positive step successfully publicizing the fact that civil union partners do not currently receive any federal rights or benefits. "Hundreds of thousands of people learned that what we have now is not adequate. We should not rest until we have equal rights."
      Senator Matt Dunne said he had already been "challenged with the conflict between state and federal laws with respect to Medicaid rules and having to use state funds to make up the difference.
       "It is clear just how often federal laws don't allow states to convey benefits as we see fit,” Dunne continued. “Civil Union and marriage are not mutually exclusive. People in relationships need to be recognized at the federal level on an equitable basis."
       Asked whether Governor Jim Douglas had been invited to sign the letter, Dunne said a decision was made "to keep the letter a House and Senate activity, although we would have been delighted to have his support."
      Rep. Robert Dostis (D-Waterbury) admitted that, "given the current climate in Washing-ton, the chances that the letter will have much impact are small." Asked about how it might affect efforts toward marriage equality, Dostis said, "If we could get all the same rights, it's a matter of semantics."
      The letter was signed by 97 out of 160 legislators.
       Some of the signers are not usually counted among lgbt allies, including Sens. Vincent Illuzzi (R- Newport), Hull Maynard (R-Shrewsbury), and Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland). Senator Diane Snelling (R-Shelburne), usually counted among equality allies, was also among the Republicans who signed the letter.
      The letter quoted statements current President George W. Bush had made during the 2004 campaign, such as "I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement if that's [what] a state chooses to do." Bush made that statement in an interview with Charles Gibson of ABC News on October 26, 2004, according to the legislative letter.
       Also in the letter was a brief listing of significant federal rights and benefits currently denied to same-sex couples, including federal inheritance rights, social security survivor benefits, veteran’s benefits for partners and dependents, spousal immunity from compelled testimony in federal courts, and immigration and naturalization standing.