Connecticut House Amends Civil Unions Bill
To Exclude Marriage
by AP from the Web, April 13, 2005
Hartford, CT -- The state House of Representatives is moving toward a final vote on a bill that would recognize same-sex civil unions.
Late this afternoon lawmakers passed an amendment adding a definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman.
The 80-67 vote to approve the amendment was a blow to civil union supporters who hoped the Senate version of the bill would pass the House Wednesday and move on to Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell for her signature to make Connecticut the first state to voluntarily recognize same-sex civil unions.
The House also amended the bill to restrict civil unions to people ages 18 and older.
That amendment passed 126-22. There had been a provision, similar to one in the state's marriage law, that would have authorized a probate judge to allow people younger than 18 to join in a civil union.
If the underlying bill passes the House on Wednesday, the proposal will return to the Senate, which overwhelmingly approved its version last week.
The debate, which began at 2 p.m., was expected to continue into the evening.
Rell supports the concept of civil unions, but has hedged her support of the bill and had asked lawmakers to pass the amendment to clearly define marriage.
Rell on Tuesday night sought a legal opinion from Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, asking if the bill could be interpreted to allow same-sex marriage.
On Wednesday, Blumenthal said that was "emphatically, unequivocally" not the case.
Rell said she was pleased that the House approved the amendment.
"Passage of this bill will extend civil rights to all couples, no matter their gender, and send the unmistakable message that discrimination in any form is unacceptable in Connecticut," she said in a statement.
Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee and one of the bill's chief proponents, said he expected the Senate to take up the bill in about a week.
McDonald called the amendment "political comfort food" for people uncomfortable with gay marriage.
Brian Brown, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, said the amendment defining marriage did not change his group's opposition to the bill.
Civil unions, Brown said, are same-sex marriages by a different name.
"They're attempting to square a circle," he said.
The bill before the legislature would recognize Vermont-style civil unions in Connecticut.
Same-sex couples would receive the same rights and privileges as married couples but could not receive marriage licenses.
There are an estimated 588 rights and privileges for married couples under state law.
Vermont has approved civil unions and Massachusetts has gay marriage, but the changes came only after same-sex couples brought lawsuits.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the civil unions bill last week. Proponents believed they had enough votes in the House to pass it.
Some lawmakers who were on the fence said they preferred passing the bill with the amendment defining marriage.
Legislators have received hundreds of e-mails in recent weeks. The majority of those e-mails, lawmakers have said, oppose the civil unions bill.
A few hundred opponents gathered on the steps of the Capitol Wednesday morning for a rally aimed at influencing lawmakers.
If the House passes the bill, the opponents plan to lobby Rell.
As the crowd chanted a prayer in unison, Jan Wetherell balanced a giant painted portrait of the Virgin Mary on his head.
The Roman Catholic has been praying every day for the bill to be defeated.
"It's like Mother Teresa said: God doesn't ask us to be successful, only faithful," he said.
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