Majority in Connecticut Back Marriage Rights for Same-Sex Couples

Wow, the marriage stories are flying like hotcakes this week.

A poll out yesterday by the Hartford Courant and the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut, shows that a majority of Connecticut residents (Connecticans?  Connecticutites?) support last week's ruling by the state Supreme Court granting marriage rights to gay couples.

The numbers are telling: 53 percent of those sampled supported the Court's ruling, while only 42 percent said they disagreed.  But what might be more significant here is that, just three years ago, the Family Institute released a poll showing that 78 percent of Connecticut residents thought that marriage should be defined as only between one man and one woman.  Quinnipiac University also released a 2005 poll that same year showing that (ironically) 53 percent of Connecticut residents were against gay marriage.  The-times-they-are-a-changing.

Assuming the 2005 numbers from the Family Institute and Quinnipiac University are even remotely reflective of the time, there's been a swift change how residents feel about this issue.  One reason could be that, for several years now, Connecticut has alllowed civil unions between same-sex couples.  Perhaps enough residents saw that committed gay couples deserve the same rights as committed straight couples.  The other factor could be that neighboring Massachusetts has not only reaffirmed gay marriage, it has now stricken from state law the prohibition on out-of-state couples getting married in the Bay State.  It could be that Connecticut voters have watched Massachusetts closely, and have seen that gay marriage has done nothing to undermine the sanctity of marriage or family.

But the larger point is that, despite what anti-marriage activists may say, the Connecticut Supreme Court decision is being backed by a majority of Connecticut residents.  And that means that this ruling isn't the product of a bunch of activist judges; rather, it's a ruling that brings Connecticut law closer to what the majority of Connecticut voters see as just, equal and fair.