BigGayNews.com

National News

Connecticut High Court OKs Same-Sex Marriage
The Connecticut Supreme Court has made the state the third in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage, with a 4-3 decision. The court ruled in an 85-page document issued October 10 that Connecticut officials had “failed to establish adequate reason to justify the statutory ban on same-sex marriage,” The Boston Globe reported. According to the majority opinion in Kerrigan vs. the State Commissioner of Public Health, the justices recognized “as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did in Goodridge vs. Dept. of Public Health…that ‘our decision marks a change in the history of our marriage law.’” Massachusetts and California high courts have approved same-sex marriages. The eight Connecticut same-sex couples who brought the dispute to court argued that the civil union law in the state was discriminatory and unconstitutional, because it established a separate and therefore inherently unequal institution for a minority group. “In accordance with these state constitutional requirements, same-sex couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry,” the majority opinion, written by Justice Richard Palmer, stated.

Six Arrested at College During Gay Protest
Police say six people were arrested at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida during a protest to promote the acceptance of gays and lesbians. The six were part of Soulforce Q, a Minneapolis-based group on a bus tour billed as an Equality Ride, with stops at 15 private faith-based colleges, the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida reported. The university, with an estimated 3,200 students, accepts gay students, but prohibits “homosexual behavior,” which, according to Soulforce members, means gay students can be expelled for holding hands or kissing. The six, arrested as they tried to attend a chapel service on campus, were charged with trespassing.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.