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Hartford, CT - By a single vote, the activist judges on the Connecticut Supreme Court today voted in favor of "same-sex marriage," thus becoming the third state high court to do so - after Massachusetts and California. Circumventing the legislative and executive branches, the will of the people, and the constitutionally mandated process for lawmaking, the four judges ruled that the state cannot deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The 4-3 decision in Kerrigan v. Connecticut Department of Public Health, states: "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."

The Connecticut Constitution's equal protection provision, which was amended in 1984, prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, and physical or mental disability, but those categories have never included sexual "orientation" or behavior. Constitutional amendment is a two-step process. The legislature must pass a joint resolution proposing the amendment by a two-thirds majority in each chamber and then submit that resolution to the popular vote for ratification in the next election.

Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel, said, "The 'inevitable conclusion' the Connecticut Supreme Court reached today is only inevitable in the minds of judicial activists who are bent on imposing, through judicial fiat, their own skewed and radical ideology on 'we the people.' Why do we even need the legislative and executive branches of government if the courts are going to brazenly legislate from the bench? It's ridiculous to imagine that the framers of the Connecticut Constitution could have even imagined the oxymoronic notion of 'gay marriage,' much less considered it a 'constitutional right.'''

Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "The Connecticut Supreme Court has trampled the law by voting to sanction 'same-sex marriage' and elevating practices most societies condemn. Same-sex marriage is not part of our American tradition, nor should it be. Mothers and fathers are not expendable; children need both parents. Since the court's opinion is not worth the paper it is written on, I urge the executive branch, beginning with the Governor, to ignore the court's ridiculous decision. This ruling violates natural law and common sense, and frankly it should be considered only for what it is - a delusional and misguided opinion of four people who don't know the difference between the judicial and the legislative branches of government."