Connecticut Issuing Same-Sex "Marriage" Licenses

Special Report - Nov 14, 2008
Officials in Connecticut began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday, November 12—the result of a Connecticut Supreme Court decision in October that established a constitutional right to “same-sex marriage” in that state. Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual advocacy group, described the issuing of marriage licenses in Connecticut as “a historic day for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people all over the nation, who may have suffered a setback last Tuesday but know that our fight for equality goes on.” Connecticut now joins Massachusetts as the only other state in the nation that currently issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples, following the passage of Proposition 8 in California on November 4, which ended “same-sex marriages” there by amending that state’s constitution to define marriage as only the union of a man and a woman. Voters in Florida and Arizona also passed similar State Marriage Amendments, bringing the national total of states defining marriage in their state constitutions to 30—North Carolina is not among these.

Unfortunately, Connecticut voters will not have an opportunity to vote on their own constitutional amendment to stop same-sex “marriage” any time soon. This is because a majority of voters in the state said “no” to a question on the November 4 ballot, which asked: “Shall there be a Constitutional Convention called to amend or revise the Constitution of this State?” The state’s constitution only allows that question to be asked of voters every 20 years, and in Connecticut a Constitutional Convention is required to make changes to the state constitution. The only other way a convention can be called in the state is if two-thirds of the legislature in both chambers votes for one to be convened.

“With the issuing of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Connecticut, and homosexual ‘marriage’ now legal in two states, it is even more urgent for North Carolina lawmakers to pass legislation that would give our citizens the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman,” said Tami Fitzgerald, staff attorney for the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “North Carolina could very well be the next state targeted by homosexual activists for the redefinition of marriage, and it is time for our state to join the growing number of states where traditional marriage is protected by the State Constitution.”

Copyright © 2008. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.