H/T Ron
Here is a happy note to end the week on: Today, October 1st, 2010, all civil unions already entered into in Connecticut automatically become marriages. The state stopped accepting CU applications on September 30th, so so from now on its the gold standard of marriage for all couples in Connecticut.
This upgrade is the result of the April 23, 2009 passage of “An Act Implementing the Guarantee of Equal Protection Under the Constitution of the State for Same Sex Couples” (Public Act 09-13) by the Connecticut Legislature. The new law was the natural follow-on to GLAD‘s successful win in the Kerrigan & Mock v. Connecticut Dept. of Public Health case where the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to full marriage equality. With the passage of Public Act 09-13, Connecticut does away with the inherently discriminatory part of the former two-tiered system. In other words, once the court ruled that every couple must have the freedom to marry, it was time to retire the civil unions system and put all couples on the level playing field of marriage.
I want to thank Ron, who alerted me to today’s historic event, for illustrating so beautifully on his blog the difference between civil unions and civil marriage with these pictures:
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| Rocco & Ron, Civil Union, October 1st, 2005 | Rocco & Ron Marriage, October 1st, 2010 |
