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A new group announced Tuesday it will be holding public hearings to educate Vermonters on the benefits of traditional marriage. The announcement came after pro-family advocates concluded that a state-backed committee studying gay “marriage” would not adequately explore that side of the debate.
The new Vermont Marriage Advisory Council plans to hold hearings and public forums across the state in support of keeping marriage between one man and one woman.
It is the first major opposition effort against gay “marriage” since the formation of Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection, chaired by former Republican state Rep. Tom Little, last June.
The group is backed by gay “marriage” opponents like Stephen Cable, founder of the conservative group Vermont Renewal, who opposed the state's civil unions law – the first in the nation – in 2000.
"It's not a competing commission that's holding hearings to hear from Vermonters. What we're trying to do is educate Vermonters on areas where it's very clear the commission doesn't want to go," said Cable at the Statehouse news conference Tuesday.
He noted that the arguments made at the hearings will be from a legal and social science standpoint, not a religious one.
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"In the last seven years, since civil unions [began], what we've discovered is that there's a tremendous amount of new information about traditional man and woman marriage and the social goods that it provides," said Cable.
"Marriage is so important an institution to society that any slight change in the law concerning marriage can have a profound impact on the social goods that it provides," he added.
Hearings will also be held at several locations around the state, including Burlington, White River Junction and Rutland.
Family Research Council will also be joining the campaign. The Washington D.C-based conservative group will send fellow Patrick Fagan as a featured speaker to the Council's first "Marriage Matters" forum on Jan. 19 at the University of Vermont.
Beth Robinson, a spokesperson for the pro-gay “marriage” Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, described the current process for the gay “marriage” debate as "good" while expressing disappointment in the Council's formation.
"The commission has provided them and anyone who wants to speak the opportunity to be part of the dialogue with fellow Vermonters," she told The Associated Press.
Cable said the impetus for the group's formation came after the state panel became argumentative against gay “marriage” opponent Monte Stewart, a Utah attorney considered an expert on marriage law, during a hearing at Vermont Law School last fall.
The 11-member state commission, meanwhile, is expected to report its findings from its own hearings back to the Legislature in April.
