Upon the high court's reversal of a lower court's decision, Connecticut became the third U.S. state to allow marriages, not just civil unions.
Connecticut joined Massachusetts and California in what has become a growing national civil rights movement when the high court overturned a lower court's ruling that civil unions provided sufficient equality for gays and lesbians.
"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. "To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others."
The 4-3 decision came just weeks before Californians will head to the polls to answer an historic ballot question about their state's gay marriage law. The only surprising thing about the Connecticut justices' decision was that it was a close one. The state was the first to pass laws affirming and protecting gay civil unions.
Right-wing "family values" groups, on the other hand, expressed outrage about the decision.
"Even the legislature, as liberal as ours, decided that marriage is between a man and a woman," Family Institute of Connecticut executive director Peter Wolfgang told the Associated Press. "This is about our right to govern ourselves. It is bigger than gay marriage."
The state's civil union law was precipitated by the same case on which the Supreme Court ruled. In 2004, eight same-sex couples sued Connecticut claiming their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were violated when they were denied marriage licenses.
Connecticut joined Massachusetts and California in what has become a growing national civil rights movement when the high court overturned a lower court's ruling that civil unions provided sufficient equality for gays and lesbians.
"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. "To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others."
The 4-3 decision came just weeks before Californians will head to the polls to answer an historic ballot question about their state's gay marriage law. The only surprising thing about the Connecticut justices' decision was that it was a close one. The state was the first to pass laws affirming and protecting gay civil unions.
Right-wing "family values" groups, on the other hand, expressed outrage about the decision.
"Even the legislature, as liberal as ours, decided that marriage is between a man and a woman," Family Institute of Connecticut executive director Peter Wolfgang told the Associated Press. "This is about our right to govern ourselves. It is bigger than gay marriage."
The state's civil union law was precipitated by the same case on which the Supreme Court ruled. In 2004, eight same-sex couples sued Connecticut claiming their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were violated when they were denied marriage licenses.
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