The Connecticut Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage today, reports the AP. From the article:
The court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut’s civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.
Justices overturned a lower court ruling and found in favor of the plaintiffs, who said the state’s marriage law discriminates against them because it applies only to heterosexual couples, therefore denying gay couples the financial, social and emotional benefits of marriage.
Connecticut is now the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, the leadership in the N.C. General Assembly hasn’t allowed a vote on a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.
Twenty-seven states have adopted marriage amendments to date. North Carolina is the only state in the southeast that doesn’t have one. Several states have proposed marriage amendments on the ballot this November — interestingly, two of them are California, where same-sex marriage is currently legal, and Arizona, which narrowly voted down an amendment in 2006.