HARTFORD, Conn. — Now that the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled same-sex couples have the right to wed, opponents of gay marriage are pinning their hopes on an infrequent ballot question in a longshot bid to block the unions.
Every 20 years, voters can force a convention during which delegates can rewrite the entire constitution. It’s a long, painstaking process that could cost millions, and, by coincidence, it’s on the ballot this November.
“This is our one opportunity for the people to have a voice, for the people to be heard, for them to decide whether marriage will be protected as between a man and a woman,” said Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut.
On Friday, the state Supreme Court ruled that Connecticut would be the third state, after California and Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriage. The court said Connecticut’s 2005 civil union law doesn’t give same-sex couples the same status as married heterosexual couples.
Unlike California, where next month’s ballot referendum will decide whether to outlaw same-sex marriage, Connecticut voters are being asked to consider only whether they want a constitutional convention. If so, delegates would be appointed by the largely Democratic state General Assembly.
State Rep. Mike Lawlor, co-chairman of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, said he is not sure everyone understands the constitutional convention process.
“It is a very elaborate, months-long process in which a group of people basically rewrite the whole state constitution,” he said. “It costs millions of dollars and requires a special statewide election. If you just want to make a specific amendment to it, which it sounds like they are talking about, then there is a lot easier way to do it.”
That would be the legislative amendment process, which typically requires a three-quarters vote of both General Assembly houses to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Wolfgang said his group has not ruled out seeking an amendment from lawmakers but is focusing on getting out the “yes” votes in November.
Andrew McDonald, the Judiciary Committee’s Senate co-chairman, said he expects the General Assembly to take up same-sex marriage next year — but only to codify the court’s ruling and not to attempt to change the state’s constitution.
