Mar 04, 2005  |  By: JOE CREA  | COMMENTS     

A Connecticut civil unions bill that has strong support and appears likely to pass has divided some gay leaders who view the measure as a compromise that would make gay and lesbian couples second-class citizens.

Last week, the state’s Joint Judiciary Committee voted 25-13 in favor of a bill that would give gay couples the almost all of the same state rights as married heterosexuals. Like Vermont’s civil union legislation, Connecticut’s will fall short of full marriage, as in Massachusetts, that would enjoy a much stronger chance of recognition in other states.

If the Connecticut bill passes — as many experts predict it will — it would mark the first time that a legislative body adopted such a measure without the influence of a court decision. Vermont was the first state to enact civil unions in 2000 but that was after the state’s supreme court ordered the legislature to determine the best way to grant equal relationship rights to gay couples.

The support for the civil unions measure has been so overwhelming that the state’s gay rights coalition, Love Makes a Family, announced this week they were ending their opposition to the measure. Previously, the group supported an “all-or-nothing” strategy saying that marriage for gay citizens was the only option for lawmakers to consider.

“We are not working to kill the bill; we will work to make it better before the session ends,” said Anne Stanback, president of Love Makes a Family.

Rep. Michael Lawlor (D-East Haven), co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, says that while “marriage is better,” the passage of the civil unions bill is a “major step forward for the gay community.”

Governor weighs in
Support for the civil union bill is seen as strong. It received some indirect support on Tuesday when Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell told reporters that she supports the concept of civil unions.

“I don’t believe in discrimination of any sort, and I want people to have equal rights and equal opportunities,” Rell told the Hartford Courant.

While the governor did not evaluate the recently approved civil unions bill, her comments ended speculation on what her position was on this issue. Rell, who opposes same-sex marriage, was likely to endorse civil unions as an alternative, sources say, since she voted in 1991 as a state legislator for a gay rights law that banned discrimination against gays in housing, employment and other areas.

Some gay leaders fear that should the civil unions bill pass and become law, it would end any discussion of full-fledged marriage for gay couples. Critics point to Vermont and note that lawmakers there have not pushed for marriage equality after five years of civil unions.

Stanback said while the very context of the Connecticut civil unions bill “would be writing into law that same-sex couples need a separate system to get protections for our families,” her group decided to end its active opposition to the measure after she received reassurances from lawmakers that the civil unions bill would not be the “end of the road” for full marriage equality.

“I’ve been assured that the conversation for full equality does not stop with this bill,” Stanback said.

Lawlor agreed the civil unions bill would not close the door on future discussions of marriage equality for gays.

“We will push for that,” Lawlor said. “It won’t take too long, but this is an important first step to getting there because right now the governor and Republican leaders are opposed to gay marriage.

“I think for them taking this step [and endorsing civil unions] coming to these conclusions in the last few months … after that settles in you can move forward and say, ‘See, wouldn’t this be an awful lot simpler to just call it marriage because that’s what it is.’ For now, I think the symbolic change going on in Connecticut is almost as important.”

Not everyone is supporting Connecticut’s attempt to enact civil unions for gay couples. The Connecticut Catholic Conference opposes the measure, noting that it is “same-sex marriage by another name,” according to a statement on the group’s Web site.

The Conference also asserts that a pending same-sex marriage court case in Connecticut is likely to succeed should the civil union legislation pass.

Openly gay Vermont Rep. trong>Bill Lippert said gay couples in his state should not expect the legislature to take up gay marriage any time soon. That state has had civil unions for five years. Connecticut activists fear if they settle ...

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