VERMONT SUPREME COURT SENDS MESSAGE TO FAITHFUL
December 20, 1999
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled today
that gay couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections
as married couples. Just one week ago, on December 13, the U.S.
Supreme Court let stand a decision by the Vermont Supreme
Court—made in November—that bars state tuition payments for
children attending religious schools; state subsidies to private
non-sectarian schools, the Vermont court said, were
constitutional.
Catholic League president William Donohue spotted an irony
here:
"The Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim citizens of
Vermont who ascribe to the teachings of their religion, and seek
to educate their children in the schools of their faith, have just
been told by their state’s judges to take a walk.
"In the eyes of the Vermont State Court judges, the faithful
must pay for homosexuals to get the same benefits as a married
couple, even though doing so means having to subsidize expressly
immoral behavior that compromises their sincerely-held religious
beliefs. In addition, they must pay for public schools that they
cannot support in principle and are entitled to zero relief for
electing to send their children to religious schools of their
choice. Welcome to Vermont.
"These decisions have little to do with fidelity to the
constitution and everything to do with ideology. Coercion is a
staple in the arsenal of ideologues and the Vermont judges are a
textbook example. The faithful should take note and either hold
their legislators accountable by pressing for a change in their
state constitution or literally taking that walk. New Hampshire,
we understand, is a nice place to live."
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