Yesterday, Connecticut joined Massachusetts and California in declaring that consenting adults can marry each other—even if they're gay! The Connecticut Supreme Court struck down the state's civil union law and declared that same sex couples have a constitutional right to wed. Oh, and litigious, wing-nut "Family Values" groups take note: The ruling cannot be appealed, dicks! The new law goes into effect on October 28th—just in time for a wave of awesome gay and lesbian Halloween theme weddings!

Striking at the heart of discriminatory traditions in America, the court — in language that often rose above the legal landscape into realms of social justice for a new century — recalled that laws in the not-so-distant past barred interracial marriages, excluded women from occupations and official duties, and relegated blacks to separate but supposedly equal public facilities. “Like these once prevalent views, our conventional understanding of marriage must yield to a more contemporary appreciation of the rights entitled to constitutional protection,” Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote for the majority in a 4-to-3 decision that explored the nature of homosexual identity, the history of societal views toward homosexuality and the limits of gay political power compared with that of blacks and women. “Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same-sex partner of their choice,” Justice Palmer declared. “To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others.”

[NYT]