Equality wins in Connecticut

The Connecticut Supreme Court has overturned a state ban on same-sex marriages, and ruled that gay couples must be allowed to marry:

In his majority opinion, Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote that the court found that the “segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm,” in light of “the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody.”

The court also found that “the state had failed to provide sufficient justification for excluding same-sex couples from the institution of marriage.”

As with the Massachusetts case, this is based on the state rather than the federal constitution, so it cannot be appealed to the federal courts. The only way it can be overturned is for Connecticut's bigots to amend the constitution - a difficult process which is unlikely to be successful.

The full ruling is here [PDF].