Connecticut Says Gays Can Marry
HARTFORD, Conn. (Oct. 10) - Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions.
The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut's civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.
Fred Beckham, AP
Joanne Mock, left, and Beth Kerrigan were among eight couples who sued the state of Connecticut over gay marriage rights.
"I can't believe it. We're thrilled, we're absolutely overjoyed. We're finally going to be able, after 33 years, to get married," said Janet Peck of Colchester, who was a plaintiff with her partner, Carole Conklin.
"Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice," Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote in the majority opinion that overturned a lower court finding.
"To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others," Palmer wrote.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Friday that she disagreed, but will not fight the ruling.
"The Supreme Court has spoken," Rell said in a statement. "I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision — either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution — will not meet with success."
The lawsuit was brought in 2004 after eight same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses and sued, saying their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were violated.
They said the state's marriage law, if applied only to heterosexual couples, denied them of the financial, social and emotional benefits of marriage.
Peck said that as soon as the decision was announced, the couple started crying and hugging while juggling excited phone calls from her brother and other friends and family.
"We've always dreamed of being married," she said. "Even though we were lesbians and didn't know if that would ever come true, we always dreamed of it."
Associated Press reporters Pat Eaton-Robb, Stephanie Reitz and Larry Smith in Hartford contributed to this report.
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Hebrews 13:4
ReplyDeleteMarriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
that would be your book, your interpretation.
ReplyDeletenot mine, not a lot of people in this world.
i think it is a wonderful thing that 2 people in love can get married in fromt of the world if they choose to.
why should anyone not have the same rights that i do???
you don't believe in it. you think your book says no?
that's fine. then you don't marry someone of the same sex and you won't have to worry about it.
you can believe whatever you choose. that's what freeedom of religion means to me BUT you can NOT force your religion and it's beliefs on everyone else.
if you are right and they are wrong, then they will answer to your god, BUT IF you are wrong, then you have caused pain and heartbreak as well as financial hardships as just a start, to countless others.
and you may have to answer to that in front of a more compassionate and all knowing god.
or, if there is no afterlife, then you will have caused all this for absolutely nothing at all.
are you THAT arrogant that you think your god needs you to defend his word or should YOU just live by it.
i have always thought that is is us that need god's help and not the other way around.
our son is gay. My husband, a big fan of Blue Collar Comedy on Sirus, stated that it was o.k, genetics argument made sense, but he didn't want our son to "act on it". I asked him this: how would you like to live a life with no one in your bed- to snuggle up to- to be able to roll-up like two spoons after making love, to wake to in the morning, to open the door after work and find someone waiting to share your evening with. He never said another word in protest. He welcomes our sons partner, looks forward to his dinners of chili and beer, hugs both of them good-bye. We would celebrate their wedding as we did their engagement. God has blessed us wth those two.
ReplyDeleteisn't it wonderful? : )
ReplyDelete