Gay Supported Receives Death Threats

Police are investigating a death threat against Vermont Senate Majority Leader John Campbell, made a day after the Democrat announced he would introduce a marriage equality bill in the new session of the legislature.

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The threat was made by an anonymous woman angry over the proposed bill who telephoned Campbell. Campbell said she threatened to blow up his home.


“It is disturbing,” Campbell told the Times Argus newspaper. “You never can tell if this is someone who is giving an emotional reaction or if there is some seriousness to it.”

Campbell said the threat was not just directed at him but also at his family.

“They should not be exposed to threats of this type,” Campbell said. “You don’t expect that in Vermont.”

Campbell already has drafted the same-sex marriage bill. It would amend Vermont’s landmark civil union law to allow gay and lesbian couples full marriage.

Vermont was the first state in the country to legalize civil unions in 2000.

Campbell acknowledges the marriage bill will likely face opposition and will depend on the support of Gov. Jim Douglas, who has not yet taken a stand on the legislation.

Last year, an 11-member commission was set up by the leaders of the Vermont House and Senate, both Democrats, to look into Vermont’s civil unions law to see if it is providing equality for gay and lesbian couples.

It submitted its report to the legislature in April, but made no recommendations on revising the law to allow for same-sex marriage.

The Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection detailed months of hearings it held throughout the state, where same-sex couples complained they were still discriminated against because employers, hospitals and insurance companies do not see their relationships as the equivalent of marriage.

The commission was chaired by former state Rep. Tom Little (R). Little was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when it passed the law legalizing civil unions in 2000.

Little said the commission purposely decided not to include recommendations in the report. “That’s a decision for Vermont’s elected officials,” Little said at the time.

A public opinion survey earlier this year found that the majority of people in the state believe gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry.

Earlier this week, the Boston-based group that won equal marriage rights in Massachusetts and Connecticut announced an ambitious plan to fight for equal marriage throughout New England and predicted success in the four additional states by 2012.



Wow, someone planning to bomb a no on Prop8ers home up. How very terroristy of them?