Previous chapters provided a close look at same-sex marriage from the perspective of ordinary same-sex couples, considering how these couples think about marriage as a legal and political issue and sometimes enact marriage through various cultural practices. This chapter widens our perspective to examine recent public debates over the policy question of legal recognition of same-sex marriage. How, if at all, should the state recognize intimate same-sex commitments? I scrutinize the public debates in two pivotal states: Hawaii and Vermont. These were the first states in the nation to wrestle with the policy question of same-sex marriage over an extended period of time. Hawaii was the first state to come close to granting legal recognition for same-sex marriage, and also the first (along with Alaska) to pass a state constitutional amendment to prevent such recognition. Vermont's experience closely parallels Hawaii's in some key respects but diverges from the Hawaii case in terms of how policymakers ultimately resolved the issue.