What's Next in the Fight for Marriage Equality in Connecticut?

Anne Stanback, Executive Director of Love Makes a Family, talks about how a decision in the Kerrigan marriage equality case before the Connecticut Supreme Court may lead same-sex couples down the aisle, or to the Legislature.

By the time you read this, Connecticut could either be the second state in the country to allow same-sex couples to legally marry…OR…we could be gearing up for a huge push in the 2008 legislative session to win marriage in the General Assembly.

As I write this, we are still waiting for the Connecticut Supreme Court to issue its ruling in the Kerrigan case (Kerrigan & Mock v. Connecticut Department of Public Health, our state’s marriage lawsuit). This case, brought by our partners at GLAD, seeks to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, arguing that the Connecticut civil union statute constitutes a discriminatory separate and unequal status for same-sex couples.

But as we wait on the court, Love Makes a Family is not just waiting around!

We are hoping for a win, but we are preparing for a possible loss. That means organizing and mobilizing grassroots supporters like you across the state to urge state legislators to support a marriage equality bill if the Supreme Court sends the decision back to the General Assembly.

Love Makes a Family's strategy has not shifted since we began this fight for marriage seven years ago. Our efforts to identify and build new support for marriage equality and to mobilize that support in the form of constituent contact with legislators has only increased and intensified.

IF WE WIN IN THE COURT…

We could not have better legal minds working on the Kerrigan case than our partners at GLAD and their cooperating attorneys. And based on everything we have seen and heard, there is no reason to believe we cannot win in court.

If we win, same-sex couples will finally have access to full equality under Connecticut law. Couples will be able to legally marry and will be afforded the dignity, respect and legal protection that marriage provides.

But as we saw in Massachusetts, a Connecticut Supreme Court win will not cause our opponents to just throw in the towel. Anti-gay organizations like the Family Institute of Connecticut are already talking about attempts to amend our state Constitution to permanently ban marriage for same-sex couples.

It is imperative that Love Makes a Family organize effectively on the front end so that we avoid the costly, divisive referendum battle that we have seen in other states. We are prepared to fight that fight if we must, but it will be far better to prevent a vote to amend the Constitution in the first place.

Protecting a win and avoiding a fight to amend the Constitution means continuing to expand our base of support and keeping those supporters vocal and organized.

BUT IF WE LOSE IN COURT…

If we lose the marriage case in the Supreme Court, our only remaining recourse will be the Legislature. The good news is that Love Makes a Family has been building support in the Connecticut General Assembly for seven years. And while the full legislature has not been ready to vote on marriage thus far, the momentum to pass a marriage bill if we are rebuffed by the Supreme Court will be stronger in 2008 than it has ever been or ever will be again.

The way we will win in the legislature is very straightforward. We need 76 members of the House and 19 members of the Senate to vote with us. And we need Governor Rell to sign the marriage bill once it reaches her desk.

The support for marriage equality in the legislature has grown significantly since civil unions became law in 2005. We are close to our magic numbers, but we still have work to do.

Our focus right now is on convincing enough undecided legislators (and Governor Rell) that supporting marriage equality is not just the right thing to do…it is the politically smart thing to do. At the same time, we are working to turn pro-marriage legislators into marriage leaders.

Winning the freedom to marry here in Connecticut is critically important, not just to families in our state, but to the marriage movement nationally.

Go to www.lmfct.org and learn how to donate and get involved! Within minutes of the decision in the Kerrigan case, the LMF website will have ALL the information on Decision Day plans, including a press conference, rally, and (in the event of a positive decision) a party on the evening of the decision.