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Gay weddings begin in Connecticut as debate rages
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-13 09:48

Jeffrey Busch and Stephen Davis, right, of Wilton, Conn. walk with other gay couples to Superior Court in New Haven, Conn., Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, where Judge Jonathan Silbert ruled at a brief hearing that gay and lesbian couples now may pick up marriage license forms at town and city clerks' offices statewide. [Agencies] 

 

Connecticut's northern neighbor, Massachusetts, led the way by legalizing such marriages in 2003. Five of New England's six states now offer same-sex couples some form of legal recognition. Gay-rights advocates are hopeful New York, New Jersey and Maryland will legalize gay marriage.

"The northeastern part of the country is leading the way," Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said in a telephone interview.

He said he hopes Vermont and New Hampshire will follow Connecticut's lead. Those two states legalized same-sex civil unions after votes by state lawmakers, just as Connecticut did before its top court allowed gay marriage.

"Vermont and New Hampshire have civil unions debated and passed in a way that I like to think left a door open to a move toward marriage," Solmonese said, adding that many gay and lesbians nationwide see an ally in President-elect Barack Obama and hope a Democratic White House will advance their cause.