Log Cabin Republicans in Michigan are hailing moves by the Vermont state House and Senate overturning Republican Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of same-sex marriage legislation approved by Green Mountain State lawmakers. The law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, would make Vermont the fourth state in the country to allow gay marriage.

“I would hope this is a harbinger of things to come, and that this would spread to other states and their legislatures would show similar courage and vision,” said Noel Siksai, president of the Log Cabin Republicans of Michigan, an organization of gay Republicans.

 

Siksai said Douglas’ veto is a sign of how Republican Party nationwide is divided over gay marriage issues.

“They still don’t get it,” he said of Republicans who oppose equal rights for the LBGT community. “Technically [Douglas] is a moderate Republican but at this point he was trying to uphold the status quo rather than realizes that times are changing.”

The other three states that have approved gay marriage are Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa, but Vermont is the first to approve same-sex marriage through the legislative process.

“The struggle for equal rights is never easy. I was proud to be President of the Senate nine years ago when Vermont created civil unions,” said Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin. “Today we have overridden the Governor’s veto. I have never felt more proud of Vermont as we become the first state in the country to enact marriage equality not as the result of a court order, but because it is the right thing to do.”

On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage.