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Gay weddings begin in Connecticut as debate rages

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-13 09:48

Troy Stover, a supporter of gay marriage, carries a rose and balloons while wearing an "I Do" button outside New Haven City Hall in New Haven, Connecticut, November 12, 2008. [Agencies]

Battles nationwide

But the defeat in California that made same-sex marriage not only illegal but unconstitutional illustrates the difficulty they face.

Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage also passed last week in Florida, which backed Obama in the presidential race but voted 63 percent to 37 percent to limit marriage to heterosexual couples. Arizona passed a similar ban while Arkansas stopped gay couples from adopting children.

The Family Institute of Connecticut, a conservative Christian group, condemns the Connecticut Supreme Court as undemocratic but acknowledges that banning gay marriage is difficult. Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell, a Republican, has said she disagrees with the ruling but will uphold it.

"We both grew up in this state never thinking this was going to be possible for us," said Ross Zachs after exchanging vows with Michael Miller on the West Hartford Town Hall steps.

Such marriages have become a way of life in Massachusetts, where more than 10,000 gay men and lesbians have wed.

"We travel often and haven't received negative feedback from anybody," said Marilyn Watson-Etsell, 66, a retired teacher in Orleans, Massachusetts, who married her partner of eight years, Karen, in 2004.

"When we travel people ask us if we are married and we say yes and that it's a same-sex marriage. Usually they say, 'Oh you're the first ones we've met.' If there are folks who are not pleased they have kept it to themselves."

Both Massachusetts and Connecticut allow out-of-state same-sex couples to marry, a legal nuance businesses hope will translate into a multimillion-dollar benefit in tourism and weddings following California's ban.

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