
With Election Day just two weeks away, voters are focusing on several key issues including affordable healthcare, the economy, the lack of jobs and high gas prices.
One of the topics, which has been pushed to the background, is gay and lesbian rights. It is still an uphill battle for the gay and lesbian community to obtain the same rights and legal protection as anyone else.
A little over a week ago, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples anxiously awaited the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision to recognize same-sex marriages.
Connecticut joined Massachusetts and California in the legalization of same-sex unions. The Connecticut Supreme Court declared the equal protection clause of the state constitution was discriminatory. The state is apparently yielding to a more contemporary definition of the meaning of marriage. This ruling guaranteed the rights of same-sex couples be protected by the law.
The governor of Connecticut, M. Jodi Rell, released a statement announcing her disagreement with the judgment, but declared her willingness to uphold it.
Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote:
“Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice.
In a nutshell, refusing marital rights to same-sex couples would create separate standards.
Some political groups such as The Family Institute of Connecticut were not so happy with the verdict. Executive Director Peter Wolfgang made a statement.
<blockquote>”Even the legislature, as liberal as ours, decided that marriage is between a man and a woman. This is about our right to govern ourselves. It is bigger than gay marriage.”</blockquote>
In related news, Grammy and Emmy award winning singer Cyndi Lauper, who is a champion for human and LGBT rights, can relate to the excitement the citizens of CT are experienced regarding this ruling.
Lauper’s sister faces discrimination on a daily basis due to her sexual orientation and the singer has been instrumental in her efforts to push for full equality for the LGBT community.
<blockquote>”It’s always wrong to discriminate. I grew up in the civil rights movement. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now.
We are teetering back and forth right now, and we need to act together to push us in the right direction.”</blockquote>
This country is experiencing change whether individual citizens like it or not.