As Vermont Governor, Howard Dean pushed for legislation to recognize civil unions instead of marriage between people of the same gender. The difference is not insignificant.

Article IV of the U.S. Constitution states that "Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings or every other State." Therefore, a strict construction of the plain meaning of the text of Article IV dictates that a marriage performed in one state would be enforceable in the courts of another state. Had Vermont enacted a marriage statute -- instead of a civil unions law -- a gay couple married in Vermont would be entitled to all the rights and responsibilities of that marriage in the courts of any other state. Unfortunately, a couple obtaining a civil union in Vermont are not entitled to the rights and responsibilities that a married couple would enjoy in another state (like Alabama, for instance). Granting same sex couples the rights to enter civil uions was a much less controversial stand to take than granting gay/lesbian couples full marriage rights.

Governor Dean forewent the opportunity to push for full marriage rights for gay/lesbian couples. Your readers should recognize that although Dean's support of the dead penalty is troubling, it is not the first time that Mr. Dean has chosen political expedience at the expense of principle.

Yours truly, Marc Anthony Diamond