The Connecticut Supreme Court has just ruled that the state must recognize gay marriages, making it the third state (all by court decision) to do so. The Connecticut legislature had already created civil unions for same-sex couples, so the question in the case was whether there was any basis in the state constitution to refuse to call these legally equivalent relationships "marriages." It was very much the same issue in the California marriage decision from last May. I have not yet seen the Connecticut decision, and will have more to say later if it seems worthwhile.

Needless to say, the timing of the decision is awkward for gay-marriage supporters trying to fend off SSM bans on the November 4 ballot in Arizona, California, and Florida. Stoking resentment of judicial activism, the Connecticut Supreme Court has at the very least probably increased the likelihood that Prop 8 will pass in California.

UPDATE: Orin has a link to the opinions below. The basis for the decision -- that some heightened scrutiny (here, intermediate) applies to classifications based on sexual orientation, and that the limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples can't meet the heightened standard -- is similar to part of the California court's rationale. Connecticut becomes the second state to apply heightened scrutiny to discrimination against gays, a significant development independent of the gay-marriage ruling.