This is dope.
Connecticut became the third state to legalize same-sex marriage today in a 4-3 decision by the state Supreme Court.
In an 85-page decision issued at 11:30 a.m., the court struck down a law barring same-sex marriage, ruling that the state had “failed to establish adequate reason to justify the statutory ban.”
The justices noted in the majority opinion that they recognized “as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health � that ‘our decision marks a change in the history of our marriage law.’ ”
The case, Kerrigan v. the state Commissioner of Public Health, was brought by eight same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses by the Madison town clerk. They argued that the state’s civil union law was discriminatory and unconstitutional because it established a separate and therefore inherently unequal institution for a minority group. Citing equal protection under the law, the state Supreme Court agreed.
“In accordance with these state constitutional requirements, same sex couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry,” said the majority opinion, which was written by Justice Richard N. Palmer.
This is a big deal for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that New York recognizes gay marriages performed in other states, and CT is right next door.
