Connecticut Civil Union Law Challenged

Before Connecticut’s civil union law even went into effect, it’s being challenged. The law that is giving gay couples in Connecticut most of the legal benefits of marriage (at the state level) is scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2005.

I agree with this action. The fact that the state is willing to give us most of the legal benefits of marriage is further cause to question the purpose behind putting us in a separate category for our relationships.

Kent and I decided not to get a civil union for exactly that reason. It just seems like we would be endorsing the idea that we’re just not quite good enough to be like other married folks.

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut’s decision to legalize same-sex civil unions is the basis for a lawsuit that seeks to force the state to allow full marriage rights for gay couples.

Lawmakers legalized civil unions earlier this year, granting gay and lesbian couples the same legal rights as married couples but denying them the ability to wed.

Eight couples argue in a brief filed Thursday in New Haven Superior Court that if the state is willing to grant same-sex couples all the legal rights and privileges of marriage, it has no reason to bar them from actually marrying.

“The civil union law undercuts any rationale the state ever could have had for denying marriage,” said Ben Klein, a senior attorney with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. The group, known as GLAD, successfully challenged marriage laws in Massachusetts, which now allows same-sex couples to marry. [...]

“The reality is that civil unions are not equal,” Klein said. “Marriage is a unique legal and cultural institution. It has no substitute. It has no equivalent.” (source)