Tuesday, March 26, 2002
Connecticut panel endorses same-sex bill
A story published today by the Hartford Courant reports that Connecticut’s legislative judiciary committee made history Monday by strongly endorsing a measure that would extend limited legal rights to same-sex couples.
The legislation was narrowly crafted and, in the end, it didn't even count because the committee had failed to meet a 5 p.m. deadline to deliver bills.
Nevertheless, the vote marked a milestone for gay rights activists, who have been pushing for legal recognition of their relationships.
Rep. Michael Lawlor, the committee's co-chairman, predicted the measure would resurface later in the legislative session in the form of an amendment to another bill.
Each time the question of gay rights comes up for debate, opposition softens, said Lawlor, a Democrat from East Haven. "Now people are talking about technicalities [rather] than the big fundamental issue of homosexuality."
The measure under consideration by the committee Monday did not fulfill gay activists' hope that Connecticut would become the first state in the nation to allow same-gender couples to marry.
It also stopped short of allowing couples to enter into Vermont-style civil unions or California-style domestic partnerships. Both of those states have set up systems that give gay and lesbian couples many of the responsibilities of marriage.
In fact, the limited legal rights debated on Monday weren't even exclusively aimed at same-sex couples. It would have allowed two people to enter into a legal contract for the purpose of medical decision-making, end-of-life care and a host of other matters.
It was, Lawlor said, an attempt to remedy some of the "everyday problems that same-sex couples experience." For example, many gays and lesbians testified they were barred from visiting their ailing partners in the hospital.
The bill, which both sides viewed as a compromise, drew mild praise from an outspoken critic of same-sex marriage. "This is much better than what we might have had before us," said Sen. John Kissel, a staunch Republican from Enfield.
