Justices Of The Peace May Not Refuse Gay Marriage

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has warned justices of the peace they cannot refuse to perform same-sex marriages.
City clerks will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples beginning the week of Nov. 10, following a state Supreme Court ruling that Connecticut’s civil unions law failed to provide equality.
Under the civil union law passed in 2005, justices of the peace could refuse to perform ceremonies for same-sex couples. But in a legal opinion issued Wednesday by Blumenthal, it will be illegal to refuse to perform a same-sex ceremony simply because the couple is gay.
The legal opinion was sought by some justices of the peace who oppose same-sex marriage.
“Although no state law requires justices of the peace to marry any particular couple,” as public officials they “cannot refuse to perform a marriage for discriminatory reasons,” Blumenthal said in a statement.