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Life In a Trans World: Victory In Vermont, But Much More To Go

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on April 7, 2009.

“It is not over,” said Beth Robinson of Vermont Freedom to Marry. She committed herself to making sure that every Senator and Representative who voted for marriage equality in the state of Vermont would be reelected. I made that decision a while ago. I even wrote to Senator Kevin Mullin to inform him that, despite not being a Republican, I will give him my vote in 2010.

After the vote was over, I walked down into the city of Rutland, my hometown. Nothing had changed. Not a single thing had on that blustery, rainy day. I listened to the buzz of the town, and no one was upset about this. No one was talking about it. In fact, life was the same as it was the day before.

For me, the issue of marriage equality is one that has special meaning. It is one that gets me from both directions. I am a lesbian, and a transwoman. If I find the right woman before I have surgery, I could marry her and have that marriage recognized everywhere. If I went through with the surgery, all that would disappear. No more marriage. It would not be because of a divorce, but because I would then have to change my birth certificate and our marriage would no longer be valid. After the surgery, I would have had to go to Massachusetts or Connecticut to marry. Somehow, going to another state would not be the same. I was born in this state, and I intend to be married and buried here. It may not seem important to most people, but it is to me.

For transpeople, marriage is always an issue. It is, perhaps, the issue that bridges that gap between the gays and lesbians in the community with the transgender and intersexual individuals who may be gay or straight. And yet, for many transpeople and intersexuals, what is on that birth certificate even long after the surgeries are done often obliterates our chances of having a marriage at all.

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I was even more pleased when I found out that Goddard College’s president supported overturning the veto on same-sex marriage. I attend Goddard. I was pleased to find out that many of the businesses I shop at supported civil marriage, and asked for the veto to be overridden.

On the first of September, eighteen days before my thirty-fifth birthday, I will be able to get married. While I have chosen not to date during the start of my transition, I know that one day I will start dating. It will be nice to know that, when I do find that right woman, I will be able to marry in the state which is my home.

Perhaps the big losers are those who sought to stop this from going forward. The actions of those groups in California colored the debate. Many people stated how they were against a referendum because they did not want to be held responsible for the flood of vicious, negative ads which would bombard our tiny little state. They are the ones who are complaining that they were caught off guard by the debate despite Senator Campbell’s announcement that he was going to introduce this legislation in this session. They were given a year to speak out about this at meetings that the legislators held across the state, and instead, chose to boycott them and produce their own ‘report’ on the effects of same-sex marriage. That report, of course, was filled with the same half truths that have been used since 2000. They are studies showing how single parent families have more trouble, and divorced families have more problems. However, it did not go into the studies which show that two parent families no matter what the make up raise strong children. And, of course, there were no outside experts. This is Vermont, we have our own experts. We do not need and should not need to send off to Texas or Georgia for an expert. They had their time to respond, and instead, chose not to. Now all they can do is complain that they were not given enough time. It is over now.

In this state, the one who may end up losing the most is Governor Jim Douglas. His decision to grandstand and to interfere with the process only made this harder, and his standing in the state that much worse.

Vermont is the winner in this debate. We have come out of it different, but also the same. Vermont is still the state of civil discourse on these issues, and it is still the state which will lead on civil rights. In 1777, Vermont abolished slavery in its Constitution. In 2000, Vermont passed civil unions. In 2009, Vermont became the first state to legislate without a court order marriage equality.

But, no, this is not over. It is not over for the state of Vermont, and it is certainly not over for the nation. Four down, forty-six to go.