Same-sex marriage in Connecticut

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Connecticut since November 12, 2008, following the Connecticut Supreme Court's 4–3 ruling in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health that the state's statutory prohibition on same-sex marriage violated the Constitution of Connecticut and that the state's civil unions failed to provide same-sex couples with rights and privileges equivalent to those of marriage. Connecticut was the second U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage after neighboring Massachusetts. Polling suggests that a large majority of Connecticut residents support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, with a 2024 Public Religion Research Institute poll showing that 75% of respondents supported same-sex marriage.

The Connecticut General Assembly had enacted a civil union law in 2005 that provided same-sex couples with the same state-level rights and responsibilities as marriage, though the Supreme Court would rule in 2008 that relegating same-sex couples to a status less than full marriage was unconstitutional. The General Assembly repealed the statutory prohibition on same-sex marriage in 2009, and in October 2010 it ended the ability to enter into civil unions.

Background

On February 17, 1987, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in Boland v. Catalano that cohabitation agreements between unmarried partners could be enforced, provided they were not based on sexual services. From March 10, 2000 to November 30, 2009, Connecticut offered domestic partnership benefits to state employees. On July 10, 2000, Hartford established a domestic partnership registry, and Mansfield followed suit on October 14, 2003.