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Loading ...Connecticut gay group disbands
04.02.2009 1:15pm EDT
(Hartford, Connecticut) Saying its work is done, a Connecticut gay rights group will disband at the end of the year.
For a decade Love Makes A Family fought for adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples and for same-sex marriage rights in the state.Last year, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to wed in Connecticut. The state’s 2005 civil union law doesn’t give same-sex couples equal status of married heterosexual couples, the court said.
The lawsuit was brought by the Boston-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the same group that won marriage equality in Massachusetts.
But it was Love Makes a Family that was instrumental in swaying politicians and the public.
The legislature currently is in the processes of passing a bill updating dozens of state laws to conform with the court ruling.
“We accomplished our core purpose, and we want to end on a high note,” Anne Stanback, executive director of Love Makes a Family, told a news conference.
Stanback made the announcement surrounded by members of the group and beside a huge picture of a gay couple slicing a wedding cake.
Stanback said that even though Love Makes a Family will officially disband, it will maintain a political action committee to endorse LGBT-positive candidates.
The bill to harmonize state law with the high court marriage ruling was approved Monday by the Judiciary Committee on a 30-10 vote. It now heads to a vote by the Senate.
The omnibus bill would remove gender references in current state laws and transform same-sex civil unions into legally recognized marriages as of October 2010.
The measure also would strip language from a 1991 state anti-discrimination law that says Connecticut does not condone gay marriage and will not set quotas for hiring gay workers or encourage teaching in school about “same-sex lifestyles.”
Won’t it a glorious day when we all can move on from the work necessary to gain our civil rights! Many other important tasks await all humans, so let’s get going with winning our rights and making our own “equality” groups obsolete!! Congratulations to all who worked so hard in Connecticut! Victory! I think we HAVE to win enough of the individual state’s rights before we can move the federal level.
It seems short-sighted to declare victory in any state right now. Not to mention a lack of imagination. Changing the law is only part of the story. There needs to be follow-through to ensure those rights have meaning, and aren’t repealed.
Joshua:
So they have ensure 100% beyond any doubt that is law is unbeatable? That no right-wing group will pass an amendment that invalidates it?
Angry Fag: Seriously, pay attention. Love Makes a Family was born to simply achieve marriage equality. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS.
Read their mission statement. You list things they were not working on.
How is their work done? Are gays on virtually equal footing in Connecticut? How about the nation at large? Seems like a naive frame of mind.
I guess the NAACP should disband too.
Au contraire! The work has only just begun. To quote the late Canadian feminist, Rosemary Brown, “Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it.”
They aren’t saying screw you. If you really feel that way, form your own LGBT political group in your state or at least donate money to the LGBT political action group in your state.
Another point: they will undoubtedly have to re-organize when the inevitable Reich (sic) Wing repeal initiatives are circulated.
The battle is FAR from over, even in Connecticut.
I have to agree with Bud that although their core mission is now accomplished, they could help others rather than disband. When I lived in MA, I worked with Massequality and we were asked if we wanted the organization to disband when the threat of the anti-marriage amendments was defeated. A large number of us requested that the organization stay around and assist with other GLBT issues, as well as help the other New England states, which they are now doing. When Love Makes a Family does dissolve, I do hope that some of the folks who worked at the top do move on to other organizations to continue the struggle elsewhere.
We need a national “Love Makes a Family”.
Tom in Long Beach
I disagree with you, Bud. This group formed for two reasons – STATE marriage and adoption in Connecticut. They have achieved both of those. Instead of looking at it the way you are, perhaps consider that by disbanding, they now free up resources in both time and money for other groups focused on those items you note.
Bud Burgoon-Clark: Look at the name of the group that is disbanding. Love Makes a Family. They were created to achieve marriage equality. Their mission statement is clear:
Love Makes a Family (LMF) is a statewide non-profit advocacy organization working for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Connecticut.
I am glad that a group achieved their goal and can quit. Isn’t that the goal? They are not saying “screw you”.
I take it, then, that they aren’t interested in the Federal DADT, DOMA, or hate crimes legislation?
It sounds like “we got ours; screw the rest of you.”