HARTFORD, April 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Democratic-controlled Connecticut Senate approved civil unions for same-sex couples, having “all the same benefits as are granted to spouses in a marriage,” by a margin of 27-9 Wednesday. The vote was divided mostly along party lines, in a Senate with 24-12 Democrat control.
“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,” the measure said, as reported by the New York Times.
The Times said that the Democratic- controlled Legislature is expected to approve the measure s early as next week - Gov. M. Jodi Rell already said she backs the idea.
Family Institute of Connecticut Director Brian S. Brown said a protest at the Capitol would take place as planned, April 24, even if the measure is already law. “If it’s too late, we’re going to have a massive protest rally like the state has never seen,” he said. “If Governor Rell truly believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, she needs to veto this bill.”
Rell said that, despite supporting the legislation, she wished the Senate had included language spelling out that marriage is between a man and woman, but a Republican-led measure to do so was defeated 2-1.
In 2004, Pope John Paul II said, “Legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, cannot be applied to unions between persons of the same sex without creating a false understanding of the nature of marriage.”
See the full Vatican document on Homosexual Unions: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/jul/030731a.html
See the related LifeSiteNews.com feature:
What’s Wrong With Accepting Same-Sex Civil Unions “Compromise”?
http://www.lifesite.net/features/marriage_defence/civilunions.htm
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