A Mass.-style court challenge not being ruled out in Conn.
By Paul Hughes, Record-Journal staff

HARTFORD — Though always a possibility, the fight for same-sex marriage in Connecticut has yet to move to the state courts, as happened in Massachusetts and Vermont.

Legal challenges forced the Massachusetts and Vermont legislatures to legally recognize same-sex couples. Vermont law now provides for so-called civil unions. On Monday, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued an advisory opinion Monday that said same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts are not void under Connecticut law. However, there is nothing in Connecticut law that authorizes marriage licenses for same-sex couples.

In Rhode Island, Attorney General Patrick Lynch said Monday that under his interpretation of state law, Rhode Island would recognize any marriage legally performed in another state, as long as the marriage wasn't contrary to public policy.


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Local companies won't give benefits to spouses of gays
By HYACYNTH FILIPPI
of the Journal Star

PEORIA - Many Peoria-area businesses will wait for state guidance on how to handle employees' rights in gay marriages, but others say the decision has already been made.

"Illinois simply doesn't recognize same-sex marriage," OSF spokesman Chris Lofgren said Monday as Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay couples to marry.

Lofgren, director of public relations at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, said the hospital would not extend company benefits to gay employees' spouses because same-sex marriages have not been sanctified by the state of Illinois.