(CN) - The first same-sex couples tied the knot in Connecticut on Wednesday, after the state Supreme Court ruled that the state's ban on gay marriage unconstitutionally discriminated against the gay community.
The ruling made Connecticut one of two states, along with Massachusetts, to legalize gay marriage. It had been the third until November, when Californians passed Proposition 8, re-establishing marriage as a strictly heterosexual union.
The California measure stripped gays and lesbians of the court victory that had recognized their right to marry.
The Connecticut ruling shared similarities with the California decision, particularly its rejection of the notion that civil unions confer the same benefits as marriage. "(T)he institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody," Justice Palmer wrote.
The court also likened gay marriage to interracial marriage, saying the legalization of gay marriage does not deprive heterosexual couples of their rights any more than interracial marriage does.
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