Skip to Main Content

Need help understanding your rights as an LGBTQ+ person or someone living with HIV? Visit our virtual Help Desk.

Baker v. Vermont

Baker v. Vermont

Status:

Closed

Outcome:

Landmark Case

Court:

Vermont Supreme Court

Attorneys:

Co-counsel/Cooperating Attorneys

Beth Robinson and Susan Murray, of Vermont’s Langrock, Sperry & Wool, and Mary Bonauto of New England’s Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

(Amicus) Groundbreaking case seeking the right to marry for same-sex couples in Vermont

Summary

In July 2000, Vermont’s groundbreaking law establishing civil unions took effect, providing families of same-sex couples the same protections, benefits and responsibilities that married couples have under state law except for the powerful meaning conveyed by the word marriage. The civil unions law — the first of its kind in the nation — was passed in response to a Vermont Supreme Court ruling ordering state legislators to find a way to provide equal treatment for same-sex couples. The Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights and the People For the American Way Foundation joined Lambda Legal in a friend-of-the-court brief before the Vermont Supreme Court, written by Evan Wolfson, cooperating attorneys Elizabeth Foster and Lawson Vicario of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and local counsel Richard Cassidy.

Lambda Legal’s Impact

This case marks the first time a high court in a marriage case ordered a state legislature to give same-sex couples the same rights, protections, benefits and obligations that different-sex couples get through marriage. Although the benefits that flow from the word marriage were left out, the case marked a critical landmark on the road to marriage equality.

    • December 1999 Vermont Supreme Court orders state legislature to extend to same-sex couples the same rights, protections, benefits and obligations available to different-sex couples couples through marriage.
    • April 2000 Vermont legislature passes landmark civil unions measure, making Vermont the first state in the nation to extend to same-sex couples a status parallel to marriage.
    • July 2000 Historic new law takes effect.

  • Decision from the Supreme Court of the State of Vermont (10/28/2011)