Thursday July 13, 2006
Connecticut Judge Rules Against Homosexual Couples' Demand for “Marriage” Title
By Gudrun Schultz
HARTFORD, Connecticut, July 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Homosexual
couples will not be granted the right to “marry” in Connecticut, a
Superior Court judge decided Wednesday, despite their possessing the
same rights and protections as married couples under the state civil
union law.
Judge Patty Jenkins ruled against eight same-sex couples who filed suit
against the state in August 2004 after being denied marriage licenses.
They were seeking the right to legally marry, the Hartford Courant
reported today.
Judge Jenkins said Connecticut’s civil union law, which took effect in
October 2005, already gave homosexual couples the equivalent rights and
protections of marriage.
Homosexual activist groups, however, objected to the withholding of the
term “marriage” under the law. In her ruling, Judge Pittman said under
state constitution the law was obligated to grant the same rights as
marriage, but not obligated to use the same terminology. Couples do not
have the right to demand recognition that explicitly uses the term
“marriage,” she stated.
“The Connecticut Constitution requires that there be equal protection
and due process of law, not that there be equivalent nomenclature for
such protection and process,” she wrote in her ruling.
Lawyers with the pro-family Alliance Defense Fund warned in April 2005
that granting civil union rights to homosexual couples would not
satisfy activists seeking full marriage status.
“The governor believes that she can protect marriage by including a
statement that says marriage is only between one man and one woman in
legislation that creates civil unions for same-sex couples,” wrote
senior vice president of ADF’s Marriage Litigation Center, Glen Lavy.
“This is clearly naïve, as proven by media reports of homosexual
activist groups that are already stating that they intend to continue
to push for full-fledged marriage rights.”
“Civil unions themselves are an erosion of marriage…No one can
legitimately conclude that these civil unions are anything but marriage
with a different name. No matter what anyone calls it, marriage is, and
always will be, a union between a man and a woman.”
The homosexual activist organization Gay and Lesbian Advocates and
Defenders (GLAD) filed the suit on the couples’ behalf. The lawsuit is
part of an organized effort by the Boston-based group to achieve
marriage rights for homosexual couples in the New England states. GLAD
filed the lawsuit that eventually led to the controversial
Massachusetts law giving homosexuals full marriage rights.
The eight Connecticut couples have said they intend to appeal the Superior Court ruling.
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Lawyers' Group Warns Civil Unions is Capitulation, not Compromise on Gay "Marriage"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05042604.html
Connecticut's Democrat-Controlled Senate Approves Civil Unions for Homosexuals
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05040708.html
There's Nothing 'Civil' About Connecticut's New Same-Sex Civil Unions Law
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/oct/05100403.html
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