Calling the Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling barring an anti-gay group from a marriage equality lawsuit “the only just and logical conclusion,” Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) heralded the decision today. The Family Institute of Connecticut sought intervener status in order to present their point of view that gay people cannot be good parents. 

In the decision pertaining to Kerrigan & Mock v. Department of Public Health, the Court said, “We conclude that the institute has not identified an interest of ‘direct or immediate character’ that will cause it to gain or lose anything as a result of the judgment in this case.”

“Every credible child expert and every parent knows one thing: it’s the quality of the parent-child relationship that matters in raising happy, healthy kids,” said Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director for GLAD. “To conclude that sexual orientation is a key factor is just not rational.” 

She added, “The court can now look at the real issue: why should marriage be denied only to committed same-sex couples?  The issue of child welfare actually strengthens our claim: if marriage is good for children, it’s good for all children.  Denying marriage to same-sex couples doesn’t strengthen marriage between straight people, it doesn’t help their children, and it doesn’t help the children of same-sex couples.” 

GLAD filed Kerrigan on August 25, 2004 in New Haven Superior Court on behalf of eight gay and lesbian couples who were denied marriage licenses.  The couples are:

Beth Kerrigan and Jody Mock of West Hartford, parents of four-year-old twin boys;
Janet Peck and Carol Conklin of Colchester, life-long Connecticut residents together for 30 years;
Jeffrey Busch and Stephen Davis of Wilton, who work in New York City and are raising their four-year-old son, Elijah;
J.E. Martin and Denise Howard of Stratford, parents of seven-year-old Rachel and four-year-old Ross;
Barbara and Robin Levine-Ritterman of New Haven, who along with their eleven-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son are facing the challenge of Barb’s breast cancer;
John Anderson and Garrett Stack of Woodbridge, who have a combined 55 years of service to the Stratford public school system; 
Geraldine and Suzanne Artis of Middletown, parents of an eight-year-old and six-year-old twins; and
Gloria Searson and Demaris Navarro, raising four children aged, 21, 18, 17, and 7.

The legal team representing the couples includes GLAD attorneys Mary Bonauto, Bennett Klein, Karen Loewy and Jennifer Levi; Maureen M. Murphy of Murphy, Murphy & Nugent in New Haven; Kenneth J. Bartschi of Horton, Shields & Knox in Hartford; and Renee Redman of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England's leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression.

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