The majority decision was authored by Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy joined by justices James Morse and Marilyn Skoglund dismissed the plaintiff's contention that the denial of same-sex unions violated of the Vermont marriage statutes. The court held that while the statutes did not explicitly limit marriage to male-female pairs, both the common dictionary definition of marriage and the legislative intent when the relevant statutes were enacted in 1945 favored the interpretation of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The court also interpreted the terms "bride" and "groom" as being gender-specific.