Governor Rell has signed them into law.
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 law does not allow gay marriage. In fact it explicitly bans it.
And despite bipartisan support, the bill was only considered politically acceptable after an amendment was added by the House of Representatives that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.That addition was key to winning Rell's signature.Posted by armand at April 21, 2005 09:30 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics
i continue to hold that any legislation concerning marriage, as opposed to civil unions, violates the establishment clause. civil unions are what the government can and does (in effect) authorize and enable; marriage is a fundamentally religious concept without legal incidents.
this debate would be vastly simplified if we distinguished between the two more clearly, and got government the hell out of marriage, as such, entirely.
Posted by: joshua at April 21, 2005 11:03 AM | PERMALINKWorks for me. I've thought that for a long time.
Posted by: Armand at April 21, 2005 11:26 AM | PERMALINK