MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Gov. Howard Dean has signed Vermont's landmark civil unions bill into law, and he did it quietly, with no fanfare.
"The healing process now begins," he said Wednesday.The law, the first of its kind for any state, will allow same-sex couples to form civil unions beginning July 1. That will entitle them to all of the rights, privileges, benefits and responsibilities of civil marriage.
The Legislature wrote a law that is separate and distinct from the marriage statutes. Lawmakers said that was in keeping with the state Supreme Court's ruling that gay and lesbian couples were being unconstitutionally denied marriage benefits.
Dean signed the bill privately in his Statehouse office Wednesday, surrounded only by about a dozen members of his staff. Uncharacteristic on a bill of any significance, the governor did not invite advocates of the bill, its legislative authors or the media to witness and record the signing.
Some lawmakers said they were disappointed.
"I think the press, everyone in the room, all would like to witness the historical event, but it's the governor's call," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Thomas Little. "The bill is law. That's the message."
The Legislature's only openly gay member delivered the same message.
"I think the story needs to be that gay and lesbian couples in Vermont had a historical day today," said Rep. William Lippert, D-Hinesburg. "Gay and lesbian couples in Vermont have more rights and benefits than couples in any other state.
"I would have preferred there was a public ceremony," he said. "But in the deepest part of my heart, I'm filled with appreciation."
After the Hawaii Supreme Court raised the possibility of same-sex marriages in 1993 -- a prospect the state's voters later rejected -- 30 states and the federal government passed laws denying recognition to same-sex marriages.