Conn. nears OK of gay civil unions

So if a legisture creates civil unions without a court forcing them to, how will the anti-gay conservatives defend their constitutional amendment which would ban civil unions for same sex couples along with marriage?

The Substance

On Wednesday night, the (Connecticut) Legislature's Joint Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly endorsed legislation establishing civil unions, and supporters and opponents of the legislation each said yesterday that the bill will probably pass the House and Senate by early June, when the legislative session ends. Connecticut would be the first state to act on gay unions without prompting by the courts.


The Boston Globe
Conn. nears OK of gay civil unions
Final votes on bill expected by June
By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | February 25, 2005

The Connecticut Legislature is poised to establish civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, which would make the state the third in the nation to offer legal recognition to same-sex couples.

On Wednesday night, the Legislature's Joint Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly endorsed legislation establishing civil unions, and supporters and opponents of the legislation each said yesterday that the bill will probably pass the House and Senate by early June, when the legislative session ends.

Connecticut would be the first state to act on gay unions without prompting by the courts. In 2000, Vermont became the first in the nation to allow civil unions, after a ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court. In Massachusetts, a Supreme Judicial Court ruling legalized gay marriage last year.

''Based on the vote [Wednesday] it has an extremely good chance of passing," said Representative Mike Lawlor, an East Haven Democrat and House chairman of the Judiciary Committee. ''This was a bipartisan vote. It seems like antigay sentiment in the Legislature has abated quite a bit. Republicans are realizing that politically there is no downside to doing this."

But some Connecticut legislators want to go further than civil unions, several of them said yesterday. Another bill, proposing that same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries be recognized in Connecticut, is likely to be added to the civil unions legislation, they said. That would mean that Connecticut would recognize the marriages of gay couples who were wed in Massachusetts, much of Canada, or other jurisdictions where such marriages are legal.

Advocates for full marriage rights for gays and lesbians were disappointed that the General Assembly in Connecticut went only as far as advancing civil unions on Wednesday night. Marriage provides same-sex couples with many more rights and benefits than civil unions, they said.

''We just think civil unions don't go far enough," said Anne Stanback, president of Love Makes a Family, the Connecticut coalition pushing for same-sex marriage. ''We don't need to get to marriage by way of civil unions. If we could vote for full equality and fairness now, why should we wait? I think Connecticut is ready for marriage. "

A spokesman for Governor M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, would not say yesterday whether Rell would sign a civil union bill if it came to her desk, nor whether she would stand in the way of a measure to recognize out-of-state gay marriages. The spokesman said Rell ''does believes in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman," but left the door open to supporting the bill.

''Governor Rell has made it clear she believes in equal rights and opposes discrimination in any form, against any couple, no matter what their gender," said Rell spokesman Dennis Schain. ''She will study the specific language of any civil union legislation approved by the General Assembly to see how it proposes to address these issues."

Opponents have vowed to fight the civil unions measure.

''The language in the bill is the same as same-sex marriage," said Deacon David Reynolds, legislative liaison for the Connecticut Catholic Conference. ''The benefits given to same sex couples are exactly the same as the benefits from marriage. It looks like the Legislature was afraid to use the term marriage in our state right now, so they opted for civil unions instead. We're going to talk to elected officials and the governor's office and just educate people about what this really means. It's not going to stop at civil unions."

The civil unions bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee by a 25-13 vote, a near 2-to-1 ratio that surprised even some of its supporters. Two years ago, when a similar bill came before the committee, it was defeated by an equally wide margin. That turnaround has led even those who oppose the bill to concede its chances of passage are formidable.

''It appears we are well on the way to being the first state, of our own volition and without a court order, to pass civil unions," said Senator John A. Kissel, an Enfield Republican who opposes the legislation. ''[Wednesday's] vote clearly signals a sea change. Connecticut is a live-and-let-live state. We have always been extremely tolerant and very progressive."

Reynolds, of the Catholic Conference, said he now faces an uphill battle. ''It got more votes than we thought it would have gotten out of the Judiciary Committee," he said. ''But we don't know what the response from the public is going to be. I don't know if people expected it to come this far."

Connecticut lawmakers are moving against the political mood in some other states. The start of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts last year helped trigger a backlash that led 11 states to approve gay marriage bans last fall.

A Quinnipiac University poll taken last summer showed that Connecticut voters favored civil unions, 59 to 35 percent, and that they opposed gay marriage, 50-45 percent. Fully 65 percent opposed a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. And 50 percent said that if a same-sex couple is legally married in Massachusetts, that marriage should be recognized in Connecticut, while 45 percent said the marriages should not be recognized.

''Look at how quickly things are moving," said Mary Bonauto, civil rights director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, who argued the case that led to same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. ''To me, 2005 looks a lot different to 2004. This is a very fluid and dynamic situation in our favor overall. The world has shifted dramatically after couples started marrying in Massachusetts."

For the moment, Bonauto and others are pinning their hopes for further rights for gays and lesbians on the proposal to recognize same-sex marriages from Massachusetts and other countries.

That bill before the Judiciary Committee reads, in part: ''Any marriage or substantially equivalent relationship between two persons celebrated in another state, territory or possession of the United States or another country and in conformity with the law of such other jurisdiction shall be valid and recognized in this state."

Though that bill was not voted on Wednesday, several legislators and advocates said it would be part of the debate, probably as an amendment to the bill advanced by the judiciary panel.

''We have a lot of options," said Lawlor, the Judiciary Committee cochairman. ''There is pretty overwhelming support for the whole civil unions thing, so it makes it possible to do a whole variety of other things."

If Connecticut enacts civil unions and endorses out-of-state marriages, it would create two types of legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples in the state, making likely legal challenges to extend marriage rights to all residents.

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