The US state has approved an equal-protection amendment that explicitly names sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
Vermont voters have approved a constitutional amendment that guarantees equal treatment under state law, with explicit protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
Proposal 4 passed at the 3 November US election. About 79 per cent of counted votes backed the measure, according to an election-night Associated Press tally reported by VTDigger. That figure was preliminary.
The amendment bars the state from denying equal treatment under the law on grounds including race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability and national origin. Sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression are also expressly listed. The text preserves the ability to adopt measures aimed at improving equality for historically disadvantaged groups.
What The Vote Changes
The protections sit in Vermont’s own constitution, giving people an explicit state constitutional provision to point to when challenging unequal treatment by the state. How that provision applies in particular cases will depend on how courts interpret it.
The proposal had broad support in the Vermont legislature before going to a public vote. It passed the state House 128 to 14 and went through the Senate without opposition. The referendum was the last step in the ratification process.
For readers in Aotearoa, the Vermont vote offers a comparison with how protections are written here. New Zealand’s Human Rights Act explicitly lists sexual orientation among its prohibited grounds of discrimination. Vermont voters have chosen to expressly name sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in their state’s foundational law.
