Civil Union
The state enacted a civil union law in 2005 that provides same-sex couples with the same rights and responsibilities under state law as marriage. Connecticut became the second state in the United States (following Vermont) to adopt civil unions, and the first to do so without judicial intervention. The bill was passed by the House on April 13, and by the Senate on April 20. Governor Jodi Rell signed the bill into law later the same day, and it went into effect on October 1, 2005.
The decision to provide for civil unions and not same-sex marriage was controversial and was challenged in the state's courts. On October 10, 2008, the Supreme Court of Connecticut, in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, ruled that failing to give same-sex couples the full rights, responsibilities and name of marriage was against the equal protection clause of the state's constitution, and ordered same-sex marriage legalized.
On October 1, 2010, all existing civil unions were automatically transformed into marriages.
Read more about this topic: Same-sex Marriage In Connecticut
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