[Mb-civic] Connecticut's First Same-Sex Unions Proceed Civilly - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Connecticut's First Same-Sex Unions Proceed Civilly
Little Hoopla Surrounds Occasion

By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 2, 2005; Page A03

HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 1 -- Connecticut became the third state to offer 
same-sex couples a legal way to unite, issuing its first licenses for 
"civil unions" Saturday in what seemed too low-key to be a milestone in 
a cultural fight that has divided the nation.

Here in Hartford -- where a rainbow flag hung outside City Hall and the 
clerk's office opened for special Saturday hours -- 26 couples came in 
to get licenses for the unions, which offer the same benefits as 
traditional marriage under state law.
Some, such as Pablo Santiago, 33, and Edgardo Rivera, 31, went directly 
to a justice of the peace and had the unions solemnized. Santiago and 
Rivera, of Hartford, had their ceremony in the atrium of City Hall, 
embracing after City Clerk Dan Carey said, "I now pronounce you partners 
in life."

"Wonderful," Santiago said afterward. "Everyone that's in love like we 
are should do the same thing."

Despite the smiles and occasional tears, this was nothing like the 
hoopla when Vermont began civil unions in 2000, or the midnight 
ceremonies that kicked off gay marriage in Massachusetts last year.

Couples acknowledged that, even as they did something that would have 
been unthinkable a decade ago, the thrill was not there. Full-fledged 
marriage was the ultimate goal, and this seemed more like an 
intermediate step.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/01/AR2005100100962.html?nav=hcmodule
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.islandlists.com/pipermail/mb-civic/attachments/20051002/2ff4f0a3/attachment.htm