Civil unions legal

last updated 8 January 2015

Hartford, Conn.

Connecticut this week became the first state to license gay civil unions without being forced by a judge. The law—approved in April and enacted over the weekend—grants homosexual partners the same rights as married couples, a step Massachusetts and Vermont took because of lawsuits. The Family Institute of Connecticut, a conservative group, said it was “tragic” that the state was saying that “children don’t need both a mom and a dad.” But Randy Sharp, who got a license with his partner, Jeff Blanchette, said the law marked a “historic” step forward. The applications are identical to those for marriage licenses, except “bride” and “groom” are replaced with “party 1” and “party 2.”