 Kerrigan & Mock
et al v. Connecticut Department of
Public Health seeks to end Connecticut's exclusion of lesbian and gay couples from marriage rights.
The plaintiff couples, who have been in committed relationships for between 13 and 31 years, many of them raising children, contend that only marriage will provide them with the protections and benefits they need to live securely as a family. Six of the eight couples have young children; some have faced health issues and worry about being denied access to one other in times of crisis. While all the couples are concerned about receiving the full range of protections that only flow through marriage, many also believe that only marriage will convey the depth and commitment of their relationships to their families and the world at large.
GLAD is representing the plaintiffs in cooperation with Maureen Murphy of Murphy, Murphy, Nugent in New Haven, Kenneth J. Bartschi of Horton, Shields & Knox in Hartford, and the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union. The defendants are the Department of Public Health (DPH), which supervises the registration of all marriages, and Dorothy C. Bean, the town registrar of vital statistics in Madison, who denied plaintiffs marriage licenses.
Meet the Plaintiff Couples
Case Documents
Questions & Answers
about the Case
Press Release, May 14, 2007
Hartford Courant Article, May 14, 2007
Press Release,
August 25, 2004
Press Release, April 20, 2005
Press Release, June 28th, 2005
Protections, Benefits & Responsibilities of Marriage under Connecticut and Federal Law
Hartford Courant article
New York Times article
New York Times editorial on marriage in CT ( Apr. 07)
View photos from the Supreme Court oral arguments
Additional Resources:
Connecticut Civil Liberties Union
Love Makes a Family Connecticut
To schedule an interview
with the plaintiffs or the attorneys involved
in this case, phone GLAD at (617) 426-1350.
Updated May, 2007 |
