By Hilary White
HARTFORD, Connecticut, May 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Connecticut Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire have instituted homosexual civil unions that create rights equivalent to those of marriage. Now homosexual activists are taking the marriage issue to the next logical step in the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Gay activists attempting around the world to institute “gay marriage” in law have argued that the so-called “compromise” of civil unions with equivalent rights and duties is inferior and creates a second tier of marriage.
The Supreme Court of Connecticut heard closing arguments today that civil unions are not enough and that gay and lesbian partnerings must be considered not only equal to, but exactly the same as natural marriages. A second issue for the court will be to examine the question of whether issues surrounding homosexual liasons can be considered in the same was as those of race.
The New York Times reports that eight activist couples have brought the suit to the Connecticut Supreme Court arguing that marriage is “something that goes to the heart of equal protection.”
The group’s lawyer, Bennett Klein of the group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders defended homosexual couples’“right to be part of the fabric of society when they are just the same as other couples and other families.”
The state is making the case that such questions, however, are not the proper jurisdiction of courts but must be decided democratically by legislatures.
Jane R. Rosenberg, the assistant attorney general, told the court today, “Is the legislature constitutionally required to use the word ‘marriage’ when it’s referring to the package of rights and benefits it has given to same-sex couples? The answer is clearly no.”
The Times reports that Rosenberg said it was possible the legislature would approve same-sex marriage within the next several years.