Long Journey Ends—

Newtown Issues First Marriage License To Same Sex Couple Under New Law

By John Voket

Having been through this once before, obtaining a Vermont marriage license only to see its validity struck down in Connecticut, Newtowners Aimee and Natalia Smith-Wallach glanced tentatively as Assistant Town Clerk Ann Benore completed a new and legally sanctioned license Tuesday morning.

The couple came to Edmond Town Hall moments after a New Haven judge cleared the way Wednesday for gay marriage to begin immediately in Connecticut. With their signatures and a brief embrace witnessed by just a few town hall staff members and passersby, the longtime companions took possession of their marriage license.

“As soon as we heard the decision, we ran right down here,” Natalia told The Bee.

“This time we can really get married,” Aimee added.

Gay marriage is legal now only in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The unions were legal in California until a statewide referendum to ban gay marriage narrowly passed last week.

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on October 10 that same-sex couples have the right to wed rather than accept a civil union law designed to give them the same rights as married couples. Some of the eight couples who had challenged a state law prohibiting gay marriages last month wept as Judge Jonathan Silbert entered his judgment that opened the way to the issuance of licenses.

“Today, Connecticut sends a message of hope an inspiration to lesbian and gay people throughout this country who simply want to be treated as equal citizens by their government,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Bennett Klein.

According to the state public health department, 2,032 civil union licenses were issued in Connecticut between October 2005 and July 2008. The health department had new marriage applications printed that reflect the change. Instead of putting one name under “bride” and the other under “groom,” couples will see two boxes marked “bride/groom/spouse.”

Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage also passed last week in Arizona and Florida, and Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. But Connecticut voters rejected the idea of a constitutional convention to amend the state’s constitution, a major blow to opponents of same-sex marriage.

The Family Institute of Connecticut, a political action group that opposes gay marriage, condemned the high court’s decision as undemocratic. Peter Wolfgang, the group’s executive director, acknowledged banning gay marriage in Connecticut would be difficult, but vowed not to give up.

The state’s 2005 civil union law will remain on the books, at least for now. Same-sex couples can continue to enter civil unions, which give them the same legal rights and privileges in Connecticut as married couples without the status of being married.

In a previous interview with The Bee, Anne Stanback, executive director of Hartford-based Love Makes a Family (LMAF), there is a fundamental and monumental difference between a civil union and marriage.

“Marriage is more than a collection of legal rights — it tells the community that two people love each other and are a family,” Ms Stanback said.

Since everyone understands and respects this, she said, it makes being married “something important, something we aspire to, and something that protects us in daily life as well as times of crisis.”

Love Makes a Family is a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals leading the campaign for marriage equality for same-sex couples in Connecticut.

Natalia Smith-Wallach previously pointed out the many differences between those engaged in civil unions and the many universal benefits afforded to couples holding a marriage license. For Aimee, the differences in many respects boil down to targeted discrimination.

“We’re just like everybody else,” she said. “We’ve got good jobs, great kids, and we deserve the same rights.”

“In Connecticut we have additional benefits,” Natalia said. “But traveling is very different for us.”

She cited a trip to Florida the couple planned and the need to not only pack normal necessities for their travel, but also arranging living wills and mutual powers of attorney in the event of an emergency outside the statutory jurisdiction of their Connecticut civil union.

Before the Newtown couple was permitted to legally join together in marriage this week, the state had prevented the Smith-Wallachs from accessing more than 1,100 federal protections. There are approximately 1,138 federal laws dealing with the benefits and protections linked to marriage (including Social Security) that civil unions do not confer.

The couple has scheduled a marriage ceremony for the weekend of Thanksgiving.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.