CT. House Likely to Pass Civil Union Statute

April 7, 2005

HARTFORD — Legislation granting same-sex couples civil unions is expected to encounter little difficulty in the House following yesterday's wide win in the Senate.

On Wednesday, the Connecticut Senate voted 27 - 9 to pass the bill.

Today, House chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor (D-East Haven) predicted that the civil-union bill is likely to pass the 151-member House with about 90 votes in support.

But, Gov. M. Jodi Rell wants changes in the legislation before she is willing to sign it.

A spokesperson for the governor said Thursday that although Rell continues to support the concept of civil unions, she wants to see a definition of marriage as an institution involving one man and one woman included in the bill.

A proposal to include the definition was rejected by the Senate on a 23-13 vote. Without the definition, the governor's office said, Rell may veto it.

As the civil unions bill makes its way to a House Vote, a new poll suggests that it has the support of a majority of people in Connecticut.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows that 56 percent of registered voters support civil unions. However, when it comes to actual marriage, 53 percent of those polled oppose allowing same-sex couples to marry.

The survey, also shows that Democrats are more accepting of both same-sex marriage and civil unions than Republicans. The poll, taken before the Senate vote, shows that Democrats back both civil unions and gay marriage, 66 percent and 53 percent respectively. Republicans are narrowly divided on civil unions, 45 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed, but 70 percent oppose gay marriage.

The telephone poll of 1,541 Connecticut registered voters from March 28 to April 4 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.