The Vermont Senate voted to override Governor Jim Douglas’ veto of a bill that would grant marriage equality to gays and lesbians in Vermont. The vote passed 23-5. The vote will now go to the Vermont House of Representatives, where the voting margin is expected to be much more narrow. The Burlington Free Press will continue to report and offer online streaming video as the Vermont House convenes today to possibly vote on the same issue.

Update: The Vermont House has voted 100-49 to override Governor Douglas’ veto. This makes Vermont the fourth U.S. state to offer full marriage rights to same-sex couples, but the first to do so legislatively. Iowa, Massachussets, and Connecticut enacted marriage equality only after court decisions required it.  California’s legislature twice passed legislation to legalize marriage for same-sex couples, but the efforts were blocked by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto.

Openly gay Vermont state Rep. Jason Lorber, a former Victory Fund endorsee, expressed cautious optimism about the prospect of passing marriage equality legislation in the state, despite Gov. Jim Douglas’ declaration that he would veto such a bill.

“We need to just stay focused on getting this bill passed,” Lorber told GayPolitics.com. “We’re certainly disappointed with the governor, but we need to do the right thing. Anytime you try to override a governor it’s a big [challenge] – but I believe we can do it.”

The marriage bill passed Vermont’s Senate by a vote of 26-4. According to Lorber, Douglas’ veto announcement may affect how legislators vote in the House.

“We’re going to pass it resoundingly, but whether we have the veto-proof margin is a different question,” he said. “Now that the governor has inserted himself into the legislative process, he has politicized this question even more than it has been. Now, when members are voting they have to take into calculation the veto — whereas before it would have been a much more pure vote of ‘this is how I feel about it.’”

“That’s disappointing that we couldn’t have that vote initially, just on the merits of the bill.”

Vermont became the first state to pass civil unions legislation in 2000. If the state’s current marriage bill becomes law, Vermont will become first in the nation to gain marriage without the involvement of the court system.

“[Civil unions] reframed the issue across the nation,” Lorber said. “This very far-forward thinking, bold statement that Vermont made in 2000 has become a conservative fallback position. I believe Vermont is now ready to make the next step.”

Lorber mentioned that his own role as an openly gay state legislator has made this debate very personal.

Lorber and his partner are currently in a civil union and are raising a son together.

“This is a very emotional issue,” he said. “It’s hard talking to my colleagues and my friends in the statehouse, many of whom I know are going to vote against this and in doing so vote against me and my family.”

For more information on the Vermont marriage debate, visit Vermont Freedom to Marry.

Fifty-four percent of Vermont residents would support a law allowing gay couples to get married, according to a new poll conducted by a survey conducted by a Johnson State College political science professor. While 37 percent of respondents did not support marriage equality, the number of people who did grew by eight percent over 2007.

The report arrives as a state commission prepares to recommend whether or not Vermont’s civil union law should be changed to full-fledge marriage.

365 Gay reports:

The commission studying same-sex marriage will present its report to the legislature next month. Members have been close-lipped on what they will recommend.

The commission was set up last year to look into Vermont’s civil unions law to see if it is providing equality for gay and lesbian couples and to determine if the law should be amended to provide for same-sex marriage.

It is chaired by former state Rep. Tom Little (D). When he was a member of the legislature Little was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, when it passed the law legalizing civil unions in 2000.

At hearings throughout the state commissioners were told that while the state’s civil union law – the first of its kind in the nation – was a step forward same-sex couples still are not equal.

Although the committee will present its report to the legislature in April nothing is expected to be done about it until after the election. That would mean that if the committee recommends gay marriage legislation there is no likelihood of a bill before 2009.

Quote Vermont state Rep. Jason Lorber: “The thing about my partner is, he’s gay. Which I’m fine with. Growing up, I never pictured myself being with a gay guy. Now, I’ve come to realize that I could never be happy being with a straight guy.”

While the openly gay Lorber serves in the Vermont Statehouse during the day, he moonlights as a professional stand-up comedian. Lorber discusses his personal life in his act, including the fact he is in a civil union and has a one-year-old son.

The Associated Press reports:

He says legislating and performing are both passions for him.

“Politics is about changing society and trying to make the world a better place. And performing makes me feel so alive. I love the creative aspect of it,” he said.

Lorber grew up in California, making him a “flatlander” or non-native to Vermonters. That gives him an outsider’s view on things New Englanders take for granted, like coping with winters:

“I have a regimen for keeping warm: I get up, I put on a tank top, T-shirt, flannel shirt, sweater, jacket and scarf. Then if it dips below 50, I put on more clothes.”