MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA CELEBRATES CONNECTICUT DECISION IN SUPPORT OF THE FREEDOM TO MARRY

San Francisco, California: “Today, the Connecticut Supreme Court stood up for fairness and equality by ruling their state Constitution cannot tolerate a separate institution of civil unions for same-sex couples who as fellow citizens deserve equal protection, including the freedom to marry,” states Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) Media Director. “Today‟s decision recognizes that the time has come for lesbian and gay couples to be woven into the fabric of Connecticut families and to have the freedom to enter into the civil institution of marriage. These couples are part of Connecticut‟s community and are Americans. We call out to the citizens of Connecticut and across the nation to stand together to support this decision and recognize our society is stronger when we are all treated fairly.”

In Kerrigan and Mock v. Department of Public Health, Justice Richard N. Palmer who wrote for the majority of this 4-3 decision stated “We conclude that, in light of the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody, the segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm.”

“As Americans come to know same-sex couples and our families, they see that we share the same hopes and dreams, including the dream of marrying the person you love,” states Pamela Brown, MEUSA Policy Director. “In California, over 11,000 same-sex couples have married in the last three months. Witnessing these ceremonies makes it abundantly clear that marriage really matters to these couples and their friends and families. Excluding same-sex couples from this fundamental right of marriage is wrong. We must do everything we can to ensure Californians will defeat Proposition 8 that threatens to take that right of marriage away and we must fight to defeat similar amendments in Florida and Arizona. ”

“This decision supports not only the eight plaintiff couples, but the thousands and thousands of same-sex couples that call Connecticut home,” states John Lewis, MEUSA Northern California Regional Director. “Stuart and I have been together over 20 years and were plaintiffs in the California marriage case. We were married in June and that experience made it clear. Marriage is so much more than just a word, it conveys a dignity and respect that domestic partnerships will never provide and that loving, committed same-sex couples deserve.”

“As we've seen in California, Massachusetts, Canada, Spain, and the other countries where same-sex couples can wed, there is no harm in extending same-sex couples the right to marry,” concludes McKay. “As same-sex couples struggle every day with the frustrations and harm caused by being excluded from marriage, and as we see once again our families are being used as political pawns in an upcoming November election, we hope that our fellow citizens reject that prejudice and speak out in support of ending discrimination against gay and lesbian families. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr. 'in the end, we won‟t remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'"