Connecticut Supreme Court Says Gays Can Legally Marry

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The Connecticut Supreme Court decided this week that eight couples who had been denied marriage licenses were entitled to them under Connecticut constitutional law.

The eight homosexual couples had joined together to file a suit against the state, saying that the civil unions they were allowed were not, in fact, equal to legal marriage.

In a 4-3 decision, the court agreed with them.

"The statutory scheme impermissibly discriminates against gay persons on account of their sexual orientation," wrote Justice Richard Palmer of the decision, which reverses an earlier lower court ruling.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the couples by the organization Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), in 2004.

"Today's victory fulfills the hopes and dreams of gay and lesbian families to live as full and equal citizens in Connecticut," said Bennett Klein, an attorney and representative of GLAD.

The law gives the high court of the state the right to make such decisions when they involve interpretation of constitutional law. Connecticut’s state constitution contains wording which makes it illegal to discriminate against and individual based on his or her sexual preference.

The ruling makes Connecticut the third state in the nation to legalize gay marriage, after Massachusetts and California.

The argument by the plaintiffs was that civil unions are simply not the same as legal marriage, in the eyes of the community or in many legal situations, and therefore are discriminatory.

Opponents of gay marriage are, predictably, not happy with the decision. "It’s an outrage, but it’s not unexpected," said Peter Wolfgang, a representative of the Family Institute of Connecticut, which aims to outlaw gay marriage. "We thought all along that the court would usurp the democratic process and force same-sex marriage on Connecticut."

But according to the majority ruling, the current law was unconstitutional because of "…the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody."

Opponents vow to continue to fight the ruling, while the decision's supporters and its plaintiffs celebrated their new rights to marry equally under the law.

Said GLAD’s Klein, "Today is really a great day for equality in Connecticut."