Family Law

By way of history, the Connecticut legislature enacted a statute in 2005 creating civil unions similar to those created in Vermont, New Hampshire and New Jersey. In 2007, when a similar bill came before the legislature which would provide full marriage equality, the legislature tabled it. Meanwhile, eight same-sex couples had brought a lawsuit against the State of Connecticut after each had attempted to apply for a marriage license in the town of Madison, and was denied. The plaintiffs argued that civil unions were constitutionally inadequate, and provided for the unequal treatment of gay and lesbian citizens.

Justice Richard Palmer, who wrote the majority opinion for the court, wrote that the "segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm," in light 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."

Connecticut is now the third state in the nation to recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry, following Massachusetts in 2004 and California in May of 2008. Just like the states of Massachusetts and California, the Connecticut decision only allows gay couples the state benefits of marriage. The Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed in 1996, continues to deny gay couples federal recognition of their marriages, including rights and benefits in connection with Social Security, taxation, immigration and others.

To read the opinion of the justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court in Kerrigan & Mock v. Dep't of Public Health, click here.

To view an interactive map of states that permit civil unions and same-sex marriage, click here.

The above photograph is credited to Shana Sureck for The New York Times.