HARTFORD,
Conn. (AP) - Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled Friday that gay couples
have the right to marry, making the state the third behind
Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions through the
courts. The ruling comes just weeks before Californians go to the
polls on a historic gay-marriage ballot question, the first time the
issue will be put before voters. Connecticut's court ruled 4-3
that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry
under the state constitution. It was a logical next step for a state
that was the first to voluntarily pass laws affirming and protecting
civil unions. "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. "I'm just ecstatic. It's
such a relief, the joy of it," said another plaintiff, Jodi Mock of
West Hartford, who sued with partner Elizabeth Kerrigan.
"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. The Family Institute of Connecticut, a political action group that opposes gay marriage, called the ruling outrageous.
"Even the legislature, as liberal as ours, decided that marriage is
between a man and a woman," said executive director Peter Wolfgang.
"This is about our right to govern ourselves. It is bigger than gay
marriage." Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Friday that she disagreed with the ruling, but will not fight it.
"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." But House Speaker Jim Amann, a Democrat, said he expects the issue to be taken up by the General Assembly.
"The legislature, as the lawmaking branch of government, debated this
issue and made Connecticut one of the few states that offers civil
union status for same-sex couples," Amman said. 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. Copyright
2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
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