The Baker Decision Revisited, Pt. 1

In December 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled the state's prohibition on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. In the Baker decision, the justices ordered the Legislature to either allow gay marriage or establish an alternative system to afford those rights. The Legislature created civil unions. Plaintiffs Stan Baker and Peter Harrigan discuss the ruling and the vitriol surrounding the passage of the civil union bill. In part 2, then-House Judiciary Chair Tom Little discusses how the civil union legislation came about and the political backlash that resulted.