In praise of incrementalism.

[cali]

In 2000, Vermont passed a civil unions law, per order of the VT Supreme Court, which ruled in Baker that Vermont either had to open marriage for all couples regardless of gender, or had to create a parallel system that provided all the responsibilities and benefits of marriage.

People either forget or never realized, what a battle this was, or how groundbreaking it was. It was bitter, ugly and hard fought. The legislation only passed by a margin of 5 votes in the House, and in the next election, enough dems were voted out that the House fell to the pukes. Governor Dean had to wear a bullet proof vest due to threats. Everywhere there were "Take Back Vermont" signs.

The Baker decision was front page news all over the country. It was the first ruling that concluded that gay and lesbian citizens had to be provided the rights and benefits of marriage.

Today, there's something quaint about it. As if it happened 50 years ago, and not less than a decade ago. But without civil unions, without the Baker decision, it's unlikely that Vermont would have marriage equality today.

Marriage equality passed here with little fuss or muss. In 2000, Randall Terry moved to Vermont to stop civil unions. This go around, the wingnut right was notable chiefly for their absence. Legislators fears of losing their seats because of their votes, are just as, if not more likely to come from those who voted against marriage equality. All this in under a decade.

Incrementalism isn't always the best path, but tossing it completely as a viable way of getting to a goal, isn't the answer. And when I say that, I'm not only talking about marriage equality. Healthcare comes to mind as well.

I'm aware that incrementalism isn't popular here at DU, but is a viable means to achieving a desired result.

[Warpy]

1. There's no denying it worked in Vermont for marriage equality

but it has been a spectacular failure in things like healthcare.

The record of incremental change is mixed, at best.

[stillcool]

4. and if you wait for perfect...

you'll never get anything. So far bills have been introduced by Rep. John Conyers’ H.R.676, and Rep. Jim McDermott’s H.R.1200. Then in the Senate there is Bernie Sanders’ S.703, which I've read is similar to McDermott's bill. Is there any support for any of these?

[jonnyblitz]

2. ah. randall terry. how ironic his adopted son is gay.

Many of us gay folk were pretty aware of the doings in VT back then though I probably wasn't aware of the degree of the intensity of the backlash.

[cali]

3. interestingly enough, Terry actually helped the pro-civil union side

he was universally shunned. The repubs wanted nothing to do with him. He was chased out of Montpelier in short order. And yeah, it was shockingly nasty. By far the nastiest episode in VT political history.