Class 11_5

When looking up Connecticut’s laws on same-sex marriages, I was surprised to find that a bill was just passed this month allowing same-sex marriages to occur. I learned that we were the second state after Vermont to allow civil unions, and as the verdict of Kerrigan and Mock v Connecticut Department of Public Health, as of November 12, 2008, same-sex marriages will be legal. Connecticut is the only the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court ruled that civil unions are discriminatory and that the law must yield to more contemporary versions of marriage, including same-sex couples. While I have always been aware that Connecticut was a pretty liberal state, I had no idea that a same-sex marriage law was even being debated, and I was surprised to find out that it passed. However, many opponents are working towards passing a law to ban all same-sex marriages. I am in complete support of legalizing same-sex marriages due to the vast amount of federal and state benefits given only to heterosexual married couples.

While I am aware of some of the benefits, others are less obvious, as seen from reading the same-sex marriage FAQ’s. I don’t understand how people can be against allowing same-sex partners hospital visitation rights, family protection (especially if the couple has children), tax cuts, or anything else. I was surprised how states can actually believe that civil unions grant the same rights as marriage, and how they can call it separate but equal. This, to me, is the same case as when blacks were given civil rights and the government referred to them as separate but equal. It is clear that they are not the same things, so why call them the same? While I understand that some civil unions and same-sex marriages are not recognized in other states, those people should still be granted the rights that those couples are given in those states. Just because those people don’t live in the states that they are married in, they should still be given the benefits.

As we mentioned in class, the government and the economy would benefit from allowing same-sex marriages. The wedding industry would experience immense increases in income, and Bush would realize his goal in increasing marriage rates. As Nancy Naples discusses in her article, “Queer Parenting in the New Millennium”, the Bush administration has allocated massive amounts of money towards promoting “traditional marriage”. Instead of this, the government should encourage marriage of any kind, and make it fair and accessible for same-sex couples to marry. It is not fair to give benefits to people only if they are a married heterosexual couple.