Lawyer speaks about same-sex marriage effort in Connecticut

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Tuesday's lecture began with one story after another of same-sex couples being denied hospital visitations or health insurance because they weren't married.

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Mary Bonauto, a Boston lawyer who led a successful fight for same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts, told about 50 students and visitors at the University of Hartford that the time appears right for Connecticut to approve similar rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Bonauto, a petite woman whose head barely made it over the podium, is now the lead attorney in a lawsuit filed in New Haven Superior Court by seven same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Connecticut.

She believes the Connecticut legislature helped clear the way for same-sex marriage rights back in 2000 by passing a bill that allows gay couples to adopt their partners' children.

Bonauto also said there was an encouraging sign in August when Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she opposed a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage.

Bonauto's cases have all been carefully timed, and she told the audience that Connecticut is ready for change. Bonauto was also involved in legal action in Vermont, where same-sex couples can now seek civil unions.

"It's just clear that the discussion here in Connecticut is at a point that we need a resolution," Bonauto said.

She expects the case in Connecticut will take two to three years and will eventually work its way up to the state Supreme Court. Opposition is expected and two groups have already filed motions to intervene in the lawsuit. The motions haven't been ruled on yet, Bonauto said.

The upcoming legislative session will provide a spring board for debate, and both gay marriage advocates and opponents say a bill supporting broader rights for couples could be passed.

"It seems like civil union is very doable and there's an outside chance for maybe even marriage," said Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Brian Brown, an opponent of gay marriage, said the movement against gay marriage faces a serious threat in the upcoming legislative session.

"A vote for civil unions is a vote for same-sex marriage and there is no right to same-sex marriage. The civil rights claim is bogus," said Brown, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal aimed at overturning the Massachusetts law that allows gay marriage. More than 4,000 same-sex couples have married in Massachusetts since May, Bonauto said.

Some are hoping the high court's decision will help pave the way for Connecticut, but Bonauto says she is anticipating a long struggle ahead.

"The question is, are we going to be a country where everyone is treated equally under the law or not?" she said.