May 14, 2007

GLAD Argues for Marriage Equality Before CT Supreme Court

The state of Connecticut violates its own constitution by denying same-sex couples the right to marry, argued Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) before the Connecticut Supreme Court today.

Representing eight same-sex couples in Kerrigan and Mock v. Department of Public Health, GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Bennett Klein argued that the denial of marriage by the 2005 civil union law is arbitrary and fails to provide gay and lesbian citizens with the equal treatment the constitution requires. 

“Separate institutions for different classes of citizens are now unheard of anywhere in American jurisprudence,” said Klein.  “Our history has taught us that separation serves no other purpose than to mark a class of citizens as inferior.”

Connecticut’s legislature has had a marriage equality bill under consideration, but the chairs of the joint judiciary committee announced on Friday that they would not seek a full vote on the bill this session.

Kerrigan was filed on August 25, 2004 in New Haven Superior Court on behalf of eight gay and lesbian couples who were denied marriage licenses.  Justice Patty Jenkins Pittman denied the plaintiffs’ claims at the Superior Court level.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit sat in court listening to arguments on both sides today.  The couples have been together for between 9 and 31 years and are raising a total of 14 children; some have faced serious illness and some of whom are now facing retirement.  They are:

Beth Kerrigan and Jody Mock of West Hartford, parents of five-year-old twin boys; Janet Peck and Carol Conklin of Colchester, life-long Connecticut residents together for 31 years;  Jeffrey Busch and Stephen Davis of Wilton, who are raising their four-year-old son, Elijah;  J.E. Martin and Denise Howard of Stratford, parents of ten-year-old Rachel and seven-year-old Ross; Barbara and Robin Levine-Ritterman of New Haven, who are raising an 11-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son; John Anderson and Garrett Stack of Woodbridge, together for 26 years, who have a combined 55 years of service to the Stratford public school system; Geraldine and Suzanne Artis of Clinton, parents of an nine-year-old and seven-year-old twins; and Gloria Searson and Demaris Navarro, raising four children aged, 22, 19, 18, and 8.

The panel that heard arguments consisted of Justices David M. Borden, Flemming L. Norcott Jr., Joette Katz, Richard Palmer, Christine Vertefeuille and Peter Zarella, and Appellate Judge Lubbie Harper Jr.  Jane Rosenberg argued on behalf of the state.

The legal team representing the couples includes GLAD attorneys Mary Bonauto, Bennett Klein, Karen Loewy and Jennifer Levi; Maureen M. Murphy of Murphy, Murphy & Nugent in New Haven; Kenneth J. Bartschi and Karen Dowd of Horton, Shields & Knox in Hartford; and Renee Redman of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression.  GLAD brought the lawsuits that led to marriage equality in Massachusetts in 2004 and civil unions in Vermont in 2000.

For more information about Kerrigan & Mock et al v. Connecticut Department of Public Health, visit http://www.glad.org.  To interview the plaintiffs or the lawyers in the case, please call Carisa Cunningham at 617-426-1350.