 Agencies will provide an estimate of costs to requester.In 1985, the Vermont legislature passed and in 1986 voters narrowly defeated an equal rights amendment to the Vermont constitution.However, in 2007 Governor Jim Douglas signed a landmark civil rights bill banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity by employers, financial institutions, housing, public accommodations, and other contexts, after it had passed both chambers of the legislature by a veto-proof majority.