Good News From Connecticut

[gehayi]

It's official. As of yesterday, Connecticut not only has same-sex marriage--which, yes, we've had for a while--but offers equal protection to those marriages and to civil unions, and, as of October 1, 2010, "civil unions that have not been dissolved or annulled, or are in the process of being dissolved, merge into marriages by operation of lawLet

Comments

[lilacsigil]

GOOOOOOOOO CONNECTICUT!

After some initial good progress, our Prime Minister has just ruled out same-sex marriage while he's in power. Bastard. So it's very cheering to hear yet another state is bringing real equality into practice. Yay!

[gehayi]

I'm sorry your PM is being an idiot. Hopefully he won't stay in power long.

What makes it really great is that Connecticut is called "the Land of Steady Habits." It takes us a while to change, but once we do, we don't tend to go back. We just keep going forward.

[erastes]

Look at your lovely eggses!!!

[gehayi]

I know! I snagged them early this morning, and I'm glad to have them--I didn't think I'd ever get them, really.

[kriz1818]

I'm still peeved about the "we demand unnecessary special exceptions" crowd, but yeah. This is amazing all the same.

[gehayi]

The exceptions annoy me too. On the other hand, at least one amendment got chopped up a fair bit. While it said that churches were not under any obligation to marry anyone whose marriage was against church policy, it also stated that:

(1) The best interests of a child are promoted by having persons in the child's life who manifest a deep concern for the child's growth and development;

(2) The best interests of a child are promoted when a child has as many persons loving and caring for the child as possible; and

(3) The best interests of a child are promoted when the child is part of a loving, supportive and stable family, whether that family is a nuclear, extended, split, blended, single parent, adoptive or foster family.

Amendment A also delivered a slap at prejudice when it said that religious and religion-based organizations were under no obligation to give children to people if that would violate religious principles--PROVIDED that the religious and/or religion-based organizations took no state or federal funds at all.Which

[ihlanya]

*enthusiastic applause*

WELL DONE, CONNECTICUT!!!!

[gehayi]

I know! I'm so proud!

It was by an overwhelming majority, too.

[gehayi]

Seriously!

And they snuck this little number in, too:

"[This law] also allows other states to recognize marriages and substantially similar relationships entered into in Connecticut if the spouse or both spouses travel to or reside in the other jurisdictions, so long as the relationship would be recognized in Connecticut."

In other words, if a married gay couple moves out of state, the other state can recognize the marriage as long as it's recognized in Connecticut.

Which, as of now, all marriages ARE.

And as long as Connecticut recognizes the marriage as legal, it is--whether gay marriage is allowed in the other state or not.

I bet you dollars to doughnuts that someone from a state that doesn't have gay marriage will ask, "If it's legal for couples from out of state to be married here, why isn't it legal for people who come from here?"

I feel like playing Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'."