Gay and lesbian couples were granted marriage licenses in cities and towns across Connecticut on Nov. 12, one month after the state Supreme Court struck down a law banning same-sex marriage.
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“For me, what is so exciting is to feel like an equal citizen,” Barbara Levine-Ritterman, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that overturned the ban. “That means so much to me. … Civil unions felt separate but unequal. It is also an important day for our kids. It has been difficult for them to understand why their parents could not be married.”
Levine-Ritterman and her partner Robin, who have been in a committed relationship for 33 years and have two children, were the first LGBT couple to receive a marriage license in New Haven.
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruling was the product of years of struggle by LGBT activists and their allies in Connecticut and around the country. This struggle continues as equal marriage rights have been revoked in California following the passage of Proposition 8 on Nov. 4, which amends the California state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Activists will rally in New Haven and Hartford on Saturday, Nov. 15 as part of a national day of action against Prop. 8.
In New Haven, victory was in the air, but with a sober understanding that the struggle for equal rights for LBGT people is not over.
