The House on Tuesday gave final approval to the bill establishing civil unions for same-sex couples, and with the signature of Gov. Howard Dean, the bill will become law.

The Senate had made some changes in the bill, and the House approved those changes on Tuesday. The majorities in the House and Senate understand that opposition among Vermonters is broad and deep, but they can take solace in the knowledge that on a difficult and emotionally fraught issue they did the right thing.

Two events shaped the nature of the debate about civil unions. The first occurred when the House and Senate Judiciary Committees held extraordinary public hearings at the State House to which hundreds of Vermonters on both sides of the issue came to express their views.

One of the results of those hearings was that legislators and Vermonters who listened or watched became acquainted, maybe for the first time, with their gay and lesbian neighbors. They could see what the issue was about.

The issue was not about biological theories of homosexuality. It was not about the dictates of one religion or another. It was about ordinary Vermonters who wanted to share in rights and responsibilities they had long been denied. These were not people with an agenda other than the agenda every Vermonter shares: the desire for equal treatment under the law.

Fears about a homosexual agenda or about a flamboyant and alien gay lifestyle diminished before the sight of hundreds of honest and sincere Vermonters seeking fair treatment from fellow Vermonters.

The other event shaping the debate was the town meeting voting on March 7 when about 50 towns voted on same-sex marriage or domestic partnership or both. No town voted in favor of same-sex marriage, and only a handful approved of domestic partnership. The town meeting balloting created the impression of a broad consensus in opposition to the civil unions bill. That impression has added an edge of anger to the complaints of opponents who believe the Legislature has ignored the will of the people.

It's hard to determine the will of the people from partial voting on Town Meeting Day. In the aggregate about 15,000 voters opposed and about 10,000 voters supported some sort of same-sex union. What would the result have been if voters from Burlington had voted? No one knows. No one can deny that civil unions are unpopular, but it is impossible to discern a decisive consensus from voting as incomplete as that on Town Meeting Day. Most public opinion polls show that the margin is close, though tilting against civil unions.

The effect of the voting, however, was to give ammunition to opponents of the measure, and it is likely that Republicans in the coming campaign will use the new law as a sign that the present Legislature and governor are out of touch with the people.

That will be the political aftermath. The actual aftermath of the law's passage is likely to be somewhat anticlimactic. Gay and lesbian couples will continue to live together quietly, as they have been for years; the difference is that some will go down to their town clerks for certificates that will allow them to receive fair treatment under the laws.

The majority of Vermonters will still have the right to form judgments on the morality of homosexuality. But those private judgments will no longer form a basis for the legal exclusion of gays and lesbians from the rights and responsibilities of marriage.

People on both sides of the issue have been troubled by things said on the other side. Supporters have been aghast at the mean-spirited bigotry of some extremists. Opponents have been dismayed by the assumption of moral superiority by those who believe all opponents are bigots.

But the conduct of the Legislature is reason to take heart. Legislators on both sides of the issue worked from conviction and maintained a respectful atmosphere. That includes the two chairmen, Rep. Thomas Little and Sen. Richard Sears, as well as opponents such as Reps. Peg Flory and Walter Freed. And it includes legislators willing to endure insults and abuse and to risk their political futures for doing what they believe is right.

Let us hope that Vermonters of diverse views appreciate and respect the courage and leadership provided by the Vermont Legislature on this trying question.