(Updated: 12:40 p.m.) New Haven’s Robin and Barbara Levine-Ritterman made history a second time Wednesday during a morning of courtroom procedure, marriage license form-filling, and exuberant, balloon-filled celebration.
The Levine-Rittermans were the first same-sex couple inside New Haven’s Office of Vital Statistics to sign the city’s new, pink marriage license form, around 10 a.m.
License in hand, the Levine-Rittermans plan to hold a marriage ceremony in 2009, possibly in May.
They were greeted Wednesday with cheers, balloons, and flowers on the steps of City Hall.
An hour later, another New Haven couple, Peg Oliveira and Jen Vickery, not only obtained their license, but were formally married outside City Hall amid another round of cheers.
The celebration came immediately after an eight-minute hearing up the street at Superior Court that put the final touches on a Oct 10 State Supreme Court decision granting marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. The Levine-Rittermans were one of eight Connecticut couples who made history by filing that suit and seeking the right to marry.
The decision overturned a lower- court ruling in the case. They filed suit four years ago in the case, called Kerrigan v. Connecticut Department of Public Health.
Wednesday morning, those couples gathered in a fourth-floor courtroom of New Haven Superior Court for a final, victorious hearing. Following instructions from the State Superior Court, Judge Jonathan Silbert signed an order paving the way for municipalities to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
The plaintiffs were represented by the Boston-based legal group GLADD. In brief remarks, Silbert commended the group for “brilliantly” and “fiercely” litigating the case. The judge cautioned the group of expectant couples to withhold their emotion until after court. “This is not in and of itself a ceremony or a celebration,” he said in serious tones.
“Today, Connecticut sends a message of hope and inspiration to lesbian and gay people throughout this country,” declared GLADD attorney Ben Klein.
Attorney General Dick Blumenthal applauded his office for its work defending the case. He pledged to work to enforce and honor the new marriage equality edict: “Like all citizens of Connecticut we respect the rule of law,” he said.
After the judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, couples who had fought for four years to see this day got to their feet, embracing and cried. Then, with cameras flashing, they proceeded to City Hall. Some couples held hands. Others carried red roses.
When the Levine-Rittermans got into the city’s Office of Vital Statistics, the marriage forms weren’t ready. They stood in suspense, a horde of cameras watching their every move. Then out they came — hot off the press, stacks of new, pink marriage license application forms. The old forms had two columns, one for “bride” and one for “groom.” The new forms rolled out Wednesday have a more inclusive header in each column: “bride/groom/spouse.”
On the steps outside City Hall, holding a flush bouquet roses, they showed their new marriage license to a cheering crowd.
The Levine-Rittermans, who live in Westville, have been together for 20 years. (Click here to read about their journey.)
In 1992, they held a commitment ceremony that was not recognized by the state. In 2005, the the state legalized civil unions between same-sex couples, a partnership that conveyed many of the rights of marriage. The couple got one, believing it would provide some additional protections for their family, including their 13-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son.
The arrangement was “separate and unequal,” the couple said. When Barbara had to go to the hospital for breast cancer treatment, a hospital staffer gave her two choices: “single” or “married.” When Barbara replied she was in a civil union, the staffer said “there’s no place for this. I’ll just write ‘single.’”
The eight couples argued — and the state Supreme Court justices agreed, in a 4 – 3 decision — that civil union was separate but not equal to marriage.
Wednesday, Barbara said she finally felt equal under the law.
“Four years ago I wasn’t sure whether we could really get this,” said Robin. “I am just thrilled, and thank you from the bottom of our heart.”
“For me, what’s so exciting is to finally feel like an equal citizen,” Barbara said, as the two took turns fielding questions from a throng of reporters.
“I don’t think that our gaining our civil rights in any way takes away [anyone else’s] civil rights,” Robin added.
As supporters blew bubbles into the air, Corinne Blackmer passed out flowers to the eight couples and their hard-working attorneys.
“I can’t stop crying,” said Blackmer. She and her fianc√©, Pilar Stewart, are planning a 300-plus person wedding in coming months at their synagogue, Beth El Keser Israel (BEKI) on Harrison Street. The two women, ages 53 and 41, are planning to be married in the synagogue under Connecticut law.
Blackmer hails from California, where activists who are struggling to rescue gay marriage after an election day setback.
“Thank God I live in Connecticut!” she said.
Tale Of 2 States
Connecticut’s citizens affirmed the march to same-sex marriage on the same day that California voters took a step back.
California voters elected last week to repeal gay marriage rights. Connecticut voters beat back Ballot Question #1, which called for convening a constitutional convention. While Connecticut’s ballot question was not exclusively about gay marriage, the question’s most visible proponents and opponents mobilized around that issue. They saw a convention as a first step towards overturning the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision: Click here for a back story.
In a surprise upset, the ballot question failed by a margin of 59 to 41 percent, keeping gay marriage rights safe, at least in Connecticut.
Ballinger was one of over 300 people from the gay rights group Love Makes a Family who hit the ground on Election Day to urge a no vote on Question 1. Ballinger is the group’s religious coordinator.
In New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood last Tuesday, he stood during peak hours at the Wilbur Cross High School, when voters lined up for the chance to make history in the presidential election. Poised with stacks of palm cards, he greeted each voter who showed up at the polls.
In making his pitch, Ballinger said he didn’t frame the question as a gay marriage issue, at first.
“I talked about it as unnecessary and risky,” he said. “It would risk some of the current protections that are in the constitution.” If asked to elaborate, he explained how anti-gay marriage advocates wanted to amend the constitution to take gays and lesbians’ newfound rights away.
At Cross High and Celentano School, Ballinger talked to close to 400 voters, he said. Many people didn’t know what the question was about, he said.
The results were overwhelming: 1,276 voters in Ward 10 filled in the “no” oval for Question 1. Only 320 voted “yes.”
Across town in the heart of the city’s black community, New Haven State Rep. Toni Walker convinced a gay marriage opponent to vote no — and even put a lawn sign. Click on the play arrow to watch her make her pitch.
Love Makes A Family was the most visible of 50 groups, including pro-choice advocates and labor unions, that joined a coalition to Vote No. Ballinger worked with the state’s religious community, handing out literature and holding training sessions for people of faith.
His most visible opponents were religious people, too: Funding for the Vote Yes TV ads came from the Knights of Columbus and the Connecticut Catholic Conference. While the marriage issue wasn’t mentioned in the ads, both groups oppose same-sex marriage, and got involved with the ballot question after the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling.
Unlike the referendums across the nation, Connecticut’s ballot question wasn’t a direct referendum on gay marriage. Polling showed that support for a convention was fueled in part by voter alienation — not just a desire to ban gay marriage.
Regardless of what other factors might be in play, “it was certainly a victory for marriage equality,” Ballinger said. “It reflected the statewide support we’ve seen for marriage equality,” he added. A majority of people in the state oppose a ban on gay marriage, according to a Courant poll.
Ballinger himself is getting ready to exert his new rights. He’s been engaged to a man since May, and plans to marry him next May.
“We’re very, very excited,” he said. “We’re looking forward to seeing the results of years of work” that Love Makes a Family has done, he said. “We’ll be able to see in a tangible way, that marriage equality does finally exist in Connecticut.”
While Question #1 was not approved, I think that eventually people will come to their senses about gay "marriage" as they did in California.
With a public information campaign, we should be able to help people see defining marriage as between a man and a woman, to be in the best interests of all.
Never forget that the General Assembly in 2005 and the governor brought about a civil union law that protects the rights of same sex couples. The Connecticut Supreme Court split decision of 4 justices, usurped the will of the people of Connecticut.
As the extremists take hold of this gay agenda, with lawsuits, undermining religious liberty, and mandating schools to teach gay marriage, the citizens of Connecticut will have another look at this matter.
As California has proven, this is far from over in the State of Connecticut.