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CT is Second CU State
CT is Second CU State
Hartford, CT – As OITM was going to press, Gov. Jodi Rell signed the just-passed Civil Union bill into state law.
Perhaps even more so than in Vermont, the victory of achieving legal recognition and rights for same-sex couples was bittersweet. Love Makes a Family, a leading gay rights organization there, had said it would not support a bill that produced anything less than marriage, although it had softened its stance as the bill approached final passage. It now views civil unions as a step toward full legal recognition of marriage for same-sex couples.
The bill also carried two amendments, one defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman, and one limiting civil unions to partners over age 18, a higher limit than for marriage.
One report, from the Stamford, CT Advocate, cited 588 laws, regulations, and court rules that would be affected by the new civil union law.
One aspect of the bill's passage that made it unique was that there was no court ruling requiring the legislature to act, although several couples had filed suit against the state for denial of marriage licenses. That suit remains unresolved.
The law applies only to same-sex couples. It is unclear whether Connecticut couples who obtained a civil union in Vermont will be legally recognized under the new law, although the rules published in New York's Gay City News say that neither partner can be in a marriage or civil union elsewhere. Same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions will not be recognized in Connecticut under the new law.
Demonstrations against the bill's passage were planned for the weekend following its signing. The law takes effect October 1, 2005.