by DemFromCT
You've heard the news: Gov. Jodi Rell (R) quickly signed a Dem-sponsored bill making civil unions legal in CT.
In the hallway after the 26-8 Senate vote, supporters chatted, smiled and hugged. "It's a great day," said Anne Stanback, president of Love Makes a Family, the gay rights coalition that once dismissed civil unions as an unacceptable compromise. "We commend the legislature for supporting the expansion of rights for all of Connecticut's families."
Sen. Andrew McDonald, co-chairman of the legislature's judiciary committee and one of the law's chief champions, predicted it would improve the lives of thousands of gay couples in Connecticut and reverberate across the nation.
"All families can be uplifted when civil rights are extended in our state," said McDonald, a Democrat from Stamford who is gay. "The vote we cast today will ... send a wave of hope to many people ... across the country."
The new law extends to gay couples the rights and responsibilities married couples have under 588 state statutes, including the right to file a joint tax return and make medical decisions for a partner. The same-sex union is not recognized under federal law or by most other states.
Other states will follow Connecticut's lead, McDonald predicted, "and do it for the right reasons, not because judges are telling them to."
What is perhaps missing from the stories is the tone, and the effect on citizens of all persuasions and opinions, of weeks of comity and calm discussion of the issue on the evening news (dinner with the family every night). Civil discourse in CT on what seems to be a contentous issue elsewhere was a pleasure and a surprise... even opponents either didn't demogogue the issue or didn't get covered particularly well.
It's enough to make a body think it's possible elsewhere. Of course, it didn't hurt that the winning side had the votes. And that makes the upcoming 2006 congressional elections all the more important. If we want to export comity and civility to Washington, we'll need a different Congress than the one we have now.
We need a different President, too, but that's for 2008.
Oh, btw, TX is not CT:
Groups Clash Over Texas Ban of Gay Foster Parents
Posted by: DemFromCT | April 21, 2005 at 19:51