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Connecticut Ends Gay Couples' Exclusion From Marriage

Connecticut Joins California and Massachusetts as the Next State to Uphold the Freedom to Marry

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: October 10, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT:
Evan Wolfson, Executive Director
212-851-8418
evan@freedomtomarry.org
Mobile: 646-263-5552

New York, October 10, 2008 —Earlier today, the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld the freedom to marry in Kerrigan and Mock v. the CT Department of Public Health.  Connecticut now joins Massachusetts and California in ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage.  The high court decision states, "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."

"Today, the Connecticut Supreme Court did their job and rightfully upheld the freedom to marry provided for in the Connecticut state constitution.  With Connecticut joining California and Massachusetts, and other countries around the world, Americans will yet again be given the chance to experience the lived reality that ending exclusion from marriage helps families and harms no one," said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right to Marry. 

Following the example of the California ruling, the Connecticut high court found that indeed separate institutions such as civil unions or domestic partnerships are unequal to marriage.  The Connecticut decision concluded, "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, the segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm."

Wolfson also noted the importance of protecting marriage equality in California: "Just like the California ruling, the Connecticut high court understood that the only way to provide equality is through marriage.  As we celebrate Connecticut, all fair-minded people need to join the effort to preserve the freedom to marry in California.  Please, visit No on 8 today."

Freedom to Marry salutes the leadership of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) who represented eight same-sex couples in this case, and Love Makes a Family who continually leads the way for marriage equality in Connecticut.  To celebrate this momentous day in Connecticut, join Love Makes a Family and GLAD for a Rally at the Capitol in Hartford at 5:30pm or celebrate at the Hilton Hotel in Hartford at 7pm.

Take action to preserve the freedom to marry in California by supporting No on 8.

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Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Launched in 2003, Freedom to Marry is headed by Evan Wolfson, nationally recognized as a central "architect of the marriage equality movement." Freedom to Marry guides and focuses this social justice movement on a nationwide level, serving as a strategy and support center for national, state, and local partners, a catalyst that drives and shapes the national debate on marriage equality, and an alliance-builder fostering support from non-gay allies.