Many Rallies Held in Vermont Over the Weekend

According to Vermont Freedom to Marry, over a thousand protesters showed up over the weekend in towns such as Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland, White River Junction, and Brattleboro, with over three hundred showing up in Middlebury.

At Burlington's Unitarian Universalist Church, Karen Pike of Outright Vermont, the organization of which the now famous James Neiley is a part of, spoke about her pain of having her family called "inappropriate."



Elsewhere at Green Mountain College, roughly 200 protesters greeted Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas and his wife when they showed up there for a maple sugaring event Saturday. The crowd watched quietly, sang or chanted while Douglas used a hand-cranked drill to tap a tree in an arboretum decorated with rainbow ribbons.

Douglas did not address the crowd or respond to the protesters. But he has been getting a lot of mail. Since his veto threat, he's received over 1,500 letters and emails, 60% of them urging him not to veto the same-sex marriage bill while 40% are supporting him. Prior to his announcement, 70% were against the bill.

"Being ahead of one's time is what brought slavery and racial discrimination to an end ... please support the Freedom to Marry bill," wrote a Putney man.

Others were supportive of the governor.

"Our children, grand children will be harmed by this bill," wrote a Milton woman. "I've seen what their teaching can do to a impressionistic teenage (sic) like my nephew, who is very confused. Please, please, please veto this bill."

Released today, an unscientific survey taken by state. Sen. William Doyle shows that 55 percent of Vermonters support gay marriage, 38 percent oppose it and 7 percent are undecided. The data is embedded below.

Doyle Poll March 2009

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