07.15.06
Fight to upgrade Conn. unions dealt a setback
The first phase of the Connecticut freedom-to-marry case ended with a lower-court defeat for the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and their plaintiff couples.
GLAD pledged to appeal, as expected, to the Connecticut Supreme Court. There, the justices will have the same question to address — not the usual checklist of benefits denied, but the definition of equality itself and the extent to which same-sex couples can be sidelined into a unique institution that lacks the social and historical richness of marriage.
In 2005, the year after GLAD filed its lawsuit, the Connecticut legislature enacted a civil-union law that provides complete parity for committed same-sex couples under state law. Similar to the law in Vermont, the civil-union statute states that parties to a civil union:
“Shall have all the same benefits, protections and responsibilities under law, whether derived from the general statutes, administrative regulations or court rules, policy, common law or any other source of civil law, as are granted to spouses in a marriage, which is defined as the union of one man and one woman.”