Sunday, February 13, 2005

Friendly Neighbor

Connecticut's legislature has before it Senate Bill 963, An Act Concerning Marriage Equality, which specifically authorizes same-sex marriages and changes marriage-law wording to accommomdate them. If -- big if -- enacted by both houses of the General Assembly, it would bring the state in line with Massachusetts' marriage law on October 1, 2005.

The bill went to the judiciary committee and may or may not reappear this session. The first hearing on Monday was backed with people from both sides.

The anti-same-sex-marriage folk are calling for campaigns against the bill, including flooding hearings and writing letters. Family Institute of Connecticut is working on quashing the bill.

This session also has House Bill 6601, An Act Concerning Marriage Recognition. It would have Connecticut recognize as valid the marriages of same-sex couples wed in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the country or world. This is the stance of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for his state.

This makes the fourth consecutive annual session that the Connecticut legislature has had same-sex marriage up for debate.

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