Connecticut Supreme Court okays gay marriage

NEW YORK (CNN) - The Connecticut Supreme Court in Hartford ruled Friday
that the state must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

The decision makes this the third state, after Massachusetts and
California, where a state court has decided its constitution mandates a state
treat citizens equally when applying for marriage licenses, regardless of their
sexual orientation."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," said the decision, " the ruling said.

"To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional
principles to gay persons and another to all others. The guarantee of equal
protection under the law, and our obligation to uphold that command, forbids us
from doing so. In accordance with these state constitutional requirements, same
sex couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry."