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Civil Wars A
Battle For Gay Marriage
By: David Moats
Posted December 22, 2003
thepeoplesvoice.org
Metropolitan Books, Harcourt, Inc. www.HarcourtBooks.com
(ISBN 0-15-101017-X)
U.S.A. $25.00, Higher in Canada
When
the three same-sex couples requested marriage licenses in their small
Vermont towns, they simply wanted to declare their love and commitment. But
the debate they ignited over their right to marry led all the way to the
state Supreme Court. Eventually the Vermont legislature became the first in
the country to make civil unions legal for gay and lesbian couples. But it
was not an easy victory -- the bill sparked the fiercest political, social,
and cultural struggle in the state's memory, setting neighbor against
neighbor, brother against brother.
David Moats was in the thick of this drama, writing a series of balanced,
humane editorials for the Rutland Herald that eventually earned him a
Pulitzer Prize. Now, in an account of unstoppable narrative power, he tells
the intimate stories behind the public battle. We meet the couples who filed
the suit; the lawyers who spent years championing the case; and the one
openly gay legislator in Vermont, who ensured victory with an impassioned,
deeply personal speech delivered to the House at a crucial moment. Civil
Wars is a remarkable drama of democracy at work on a human scale -- and
a revealing story of individual lives swept up in the whirlwind of social
change.
From
Civil Wars
Bill
Lippert was the only openly gay member of the legislature. He had
purposefully taken a position five years before on the House Judiciary
Committee, and now he was vice chairman. He had expected he would have the
job of blocking anti-gay legislation if the court rejected the plaintiffs'
claims in the Backer case. But now, as he scanned the court's ruling, it
became clear to him that what the court had done was thrust a historic task
squarely on his shoulders… He had only a collection of notes for the
speech he was going to give. But as the vote approached, he knew it was
time. He would speak from the heart. He would speak for his community. He
took a deep breath as he stood up.
Praise
for CIVIL WARS
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”In
civil wars David Moats tells an inspiring story of political courage
that has the excitement of a thriller. The struggle for equality that he
describes is a story of sacrifice and triumph that changed Vermont and
may well change the nation. It will certainly change the reader.”
– U.S. Senator Patrick J. Leon
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”David
Moats has taken a Vermont experience and made it into a national story
that is worth telling.” – former Vermont governor Madeleine May
Kunin
About
the Author
David Moats grew up in San
Mateo, California; graduated from the University of California at Santa
Barbara; and served in the Peace Corp's in the 1970's. He is the editorial
page editor of the Rutland Herald, where he won that paper’s first
Pulitzer Prize for his series of editorials in support of same-sex unions.
His articles have appeared in the New York Times and the Washington
Post. He is also a playwright who has authored a dozen plays. He lives
in Middlebury, Vermont.
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