Gay Couples Challenge Conn. Marriage Laws

[deadparrot]

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A lawyer for eight gay couples argued in court Tuesday that Connecticut's marriage laws illegally create a separate class of people based on sexual orientation.

The couples, with the help of the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, filed suit in 2004 in an attempt to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage.

Last year, Connecticut approved civil unions for gay couples, which gives them the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples, but that law also defined marriage as existing only between a man and a woman.

Assistant Attorney General Jane Rosenberg defended the laws Tuesday in Superior Court, arguing that there is no fundamental right to marry.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060321/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage