Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage; House Overrides Gov’s Veto

Gaining the required two-thirds majority by the smallest possible margin, 100-49, Vermont’s House of Representatives voted to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill (PDF) allowing gays and lesbians to marry, the Associated Press reports. The House vote was preceded by a Senate vote of 23-5 to override Douglas’ veto.

The Atlantic’s Washington blog reports that the law will go into effect Sept. 1.

Vermont now joins Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa in allowing gays to marry. Iowa’s ban was lifted Friday by way of an Iowa Supreme Court ruling.

"Getting two-thirds of each house of the state legislature to approve gay marriage is a much more impressive feat, in my view, than getting even a unanimous vote from a state supreme court, as occurred in Iowa just four days ago, " University of Minnesota law professor Dale Carpenter wrote on the Volokh Conspiracy blog.

In related news, the city council in Washington, D.C., voted 12-0 today to recognize gay marriages performed in other states, the Washington Post reports.

Updated at 1:30 p.m. to add link to Washington Post material, the text of the Vermont house bill, and Carpenter quote.