Thursday, 4:30 PM
Connecticut high court hears arguments in gay marriage case
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff
HARTFORD -- Connecticut's two-year-old civil unions law is unconstitutional and marks gays and lesbians as "inferior and unworthy," a lawyer for eight same-sex couples argued today before the state's Supreme Court.
The couples, who are seeking the right to marry, faced off in court against a lawyer for the state who argued that civil unions afford the same rights and benefits as marriage.
"All we're talking about is a word," Assistant Attorney General Jane Rosenberg said.
The couples sued the state three years ago after they were denied marriage licenses by a town clerk. In 2005, Connecticut became the first state to establish civil unions without a court order. The measure did not end the debate over gay marriage. Massachusetts remains the only state where same-sex couples can marry.
During three hours of arguments today in a wood-paneled courtroom packed with spectators, the seven Supreme Court justices peppered the couples' attorney, Ben Klein, with questions. The judges seemed to wrestle with whether gays and lesbians were a specially protected class, like racial minorities.
The court could take weeks or months to issue an opinion.
Outside the hearing, plaintiffs Elizabeth Kerrigan and Joanne Mock said they hope the court will allow them to marry so their 5-year-old twin boys can enjoy the same standing as their peers. "Our children always ask us 'are you married?' and it breaks our hearts to have to tell them 'no, we are not,' " Kerrigan said.
