CT AG: State May Recognize NJ Domestic Partners

September 20, 2005

HARTFORD—Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued a legal opinion today concerning the recognition of out-of-state civil unions and same-sex marriages in that state.

Civil unions performed in other states are entitled to full faith and credit in Connecticut, will be recognized, and need not be repeated here, Blumenthal said. Out-of-state same-sex marriages have no legal force and effect here. Because out-of-state same-sex marriages are not recognized as marriages or civil unions under Connecticut law, same-sex couples may enter into a civil union in Connecticut.

Connecticut's law allowing civil unions between same-sex couples takes effect Oct. 1.

Blumenthal issued the opinion to the state Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner J. Robert Galvin. It is the DPH's Registrar of Vital Records that administers the official civil union and marriage papers in the state, which are issued through city and town clerks' offices.

This opinion concerns a new, developing area of law — uncharted legal territory in Connecticut, Blumenthal said. Our courts, obviously, will be the ultimate source of answers. After a careful, critical review of our law, I believe that out-of-state same-sex civil unions and certain domestic partnerships must be honored in Connecticut. Because our state legislature has defined marriage as a union between only a man and a woman, our state will not recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Such couples, however, may enter into civil unions in Connecticut.

Currently, Vermont is the only state outside of Connecticut that allows civil unions, and Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex marriages. Several states, including California, New Jersey, and Maine, allow some form of same-sex domestic partnership.

Blumenthal said our courts will conclude that Connecticut law and the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution require Connecticut to recognize Vermont civil unions and California same-sex domestic partnerships because California's Domestic Partnership Act provides a particularly broad range of benefits to same-sex couples. Other out-of-state, legally authorized same-sex domestic partnerships may be recognized as civil unions in Connecticut, depending on how specific provisions of other states' laws compare to ours.

In determining whether Connecticut will recognize a civil union, same-sex marriage, or same-sex domestic partnership from another state, Blumenthal's office reviewed state law and the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which governs the extent to which one state must recognize the laws of another state.

The Full Faith and Credit Clause provides that:

Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

Blumenthal said the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that the Full Faith and Credit Clause does not require a state to apply another state's law in violation of its own legitimate public policy.

Connecticut courts have ruled that a state may decline to recognize a same-sex marriage entered into in another state if it violates the public policy of that state. While the Connecticut legislature has chosen to adopt civil unions here, it has specifically defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

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