Vt., N.Y. Will Likely Recognize Mass. Gay Marriages
Vermont Worries About Losing Gay Civil Union Business


WATERBURY, Vt. -- Dozens of gay couples have gone down in the history books as the first to legally marry in Massachusetts, and it appears that those marriages probably will be recognized, at least in some form, in Vermont and New York.

However, leaders in both states predict the issue will end up in the courts.
Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said the way he sees it, same-sex couples who wed in Massachusetts will be viewed in Vermont as having civil unions. His counterpart in New York, Eliot Spitzer, has hinted they'll receive full marriage rights.

President George W. Bush said he'll push for a national constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.


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State may be asked to honor gay marriages
Activist applauds legal same-sex unions in Mass.
The Associated Press

JACKSON - An attorney for a family advocacy group says Mississippi may eventually be asked to recognize the same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts.

Gay couples began exchanging marriage vows in Massachusetts on Monday, marking the first time a state has granted gays and lesbians the right to marry and making the United States one of at least five countries where homosexuals can legally wed.
"The reality is that you will see same-sex couples attempting to take their marriage to other jurisdictions and get them recognized," Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the Tupelo-based American Family Associa-tion, said Monday.

In March, AFA sued in King County Superior Court in the state of Washington on behalf of a Seattle resident seeking to block that city's mayor from recognizing the unions of gay city employees who marry elsewhere. Fahling said AFA has been involved in similar cases in Kansas, West Virginia and Oregon.