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The fact that Connecticut has civil union laws on the books and must now permit same-sex marriage leads to a few sticky legal complications.

Between the time the plaintiffs in Kerrigan v. Connecticut Department of Public Health and their supporters cheered on the steps of the Connecticut Supreme Court and the time same-sex couples actually marry in the state, there are a host of legal matters to sort out. The landmark decision, delivered on Oct. 10, comes not at the end but somewhere in the middle of a series of legal hurdles to full gay rights.

The Kerrigan lawsuit was brought about in 2004 after eight same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses and sued, saying their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were violated. They were represented by attorneys from Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the Boston–based group that won gay marriage in Massachusetts.

The Connecticut ruling is unique in that it's the only instance in which same-sex marriage was imposed on a state that already recognized civil unions. In other words, it's the first time a court said that civil unions aren't enough.

Each session from 1973 to 1991, a bill prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians was proposed in the General Assembly and shot down somewhere in the process, recalls Joe Grabarz Jr., a Bridgeport Democrat who was Connecticut's first openly gay legislator and who served in the State House from 1988 to 1992.

In 1991, however, such a bill won the surprising support of the state's Roman Catholic Church. In April of that year, the General Assembly passed a bill that "prohibited most landlords, employers, banks and other institutions from denying apartments, jobs, loans or any other services to people simply because they are homosexual." However, to keep Catholic support, amendments were added that exempted religious institutions, owner-occupied housing of four families or fewer and adoption services.

Civil unions waited until 2005. And the fact that Connecticut has civil union laws on the books and must now permit same-sex marriage leads to a few sticky legal complications:

• Both same-sex marriages and civil unions will be granted and recognized and the rights and benefits of a civil union will not change.

• The Kerrigan decision will not alter the status of existing civil unions.

• Connecticut will continue to recognize the validity of out-of-state civil unions and in addition will now recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages from Massachusetts and California.

• Those with civil unions who wish to get married can do so as long as they marry the same person they share the union with. Those who want to marry someone else must dissolve the civil union or risk being charged with bigamy.

The ruling does not require churches or synagogues to marry gay couples. It does, however, require Justices of the Peace to do so. According to Blumenthal, JPs are "agents of the state" and it would be a violation of their code of ethics to refuse. JPs are volunteers who are not elected and exist in nearly every town in Connecticut. They are paid "a fee...that reflects...expertise, effort, time and involvement in the preparation and performance of" weddings.

"I haven't taken a poll of our organization but I would say most would do [same-sex] weddings or civil unions," says Barbara Jay, vice president of the Justices of the Peace Society, a group that started in Connecticut, represents 200 of the state's JPs and has branched into other states. Jay says she knows of only one JP, a Catholic in Massachusetts, who protested having to perform gay marriages and eventually resigned.

Jay says JPs, as an alternative to clergy, have performed many civil unions and inter-faith ceremonies. Still, some JPs have anxiety. One asked Jay how he could "advertise" himself to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

New Fairfield is one of Connecticut's more Republican-leaning towns. Town Registrar and JP Michelle DeLuise says she hasn't heard about any refusals to comply with same-sex marriages from her fellow justices. If a case arose where they did not want to comply, she says it would be against their code of ethics, but justices are aplenty and those wishing to utilize such services have a large selection to choose from.

Meanwhile, Bethel's Town Clerk, Lisa Bergh, and a host of others, have complained they do not have the required forms to complete same-sex marriage requests. Current Connecticut marriage certificates read "bride" and "groom." Blumenthal's office said new forms will be provided but in the meantime the clerks can simply cross out gender references on the current forms using a pen or marker.

Nick Keppler contributed to this story.

editor@newhavenadvocate.com