Marriage equality has come to Vermont!!!
The Vermont Senate and the Vermont House have successfully overridden Gov. Jim Douglas's veto of the Marriage Equality bill, S.115. Shortly after 10 am, the Senate voted 23-5 to override the veto and the House took up the override vote almost immediately thereafter. It passed by a margin of 100-49.
Vermont becomes the first state to achieve full marriage equality through the legislative process (and legislative only since the executive vetoed the bill). Vermont joins Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa in embracing equality. California also previously had marriage equality before a voter initiative rescinded the fundamental rights of same sex couples. The constitutionality of that initiative is currently pending before the California high court.
Vermont was the first state to grant partial rights to same sex couples in 2000 with the state's Civil Unions act, signed by former Gov and former DNC chair Dr. Howard Dean. The Civil Unions act was necessitated by the Vermont Supreme Court's 1999 ruling in Baker v State requiring the state to extend the rights and benefits of marriage to same sex couples.
Marriage bills are also currently under consideration in New Hampshire and Maine. In New Hampshire, the state House has already passed the bill in late March. New Hampshire's Governor has hinted that he will also likely veto the bill if it reaches his desk, but the recent turn of event in Iowa and next door in Vermont may cause him to reconsider his position. I don't believe Maine's bill has been taken up by ether chamber yet.
Also, in California there are currently two initiatives that have been approved for signature gathering on the subject of domestic relationships. One initiative would create full equality by denying marriage to all couples and placing both opposite sex couples and same sex couples under the banner of domestic partnerships. The other would rescind Prop 8, passed in November, and restore full marriage equality to all Californians.