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this bill does not balance anything

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-senate-oks-same-sex-marriage-exemption,0,3140516.story

“The state Senate this evening approved a measure that supporters say balances the rights of gay couples with those who hold religious objections to same-sex marriage.

The vote came after nearly three hours of often impassioned debate. Strictly speaking, lawmakers were voting on a bill that implements the landmark state Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage.

But opponents of gay marriage, including the Roman Catholic Church and the Family Institute of Connecticut, had sought legal protections for business owners and organizations that oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds. Clergy opposed to gay unions were already exempt.”

Senator Joan Hartley of Waterbury was the only Democrat who voted against the bill. She was joined by six Republicans - John A. Kissel of Enfield, Kevin D. Witkos of Canton, Sam Caligiuri of Waterbury, Michael A. McLachlan of Danbury, Robert J. Kane of Watertown, and L. Scott Frantz of Greenwich.

God bless my wonderful state senator John Kissel.

Sen. Andrew McDonald, the co-chairman of the legislature's judiciary committee, handled many of the detailed questions during a debate that lasted nearly three hours Wednesday.

"This legislation was built on the shoulders of committed and loving gay and lesbian couples who cared enough to fight for their right to be seen as equals in the eyes of society as it pertains to the institution of marriage,'' McDonald said. "They never deserved anything less, and I don't expect that the people of Connecticut ever wished them anything less."

How do you know what the "people of Connecticut" wish, you POS... we didn't get a chance to VOTE on whether or not Connecticut becomes a Gay State! The people of Connecticut had no voice in this - it was forced upon us.

Republicans in the House of Representatives objected to suspending the rules on Wednesday night, but Democrats passed a motion at 8 p.m. to suspend the rules by 105 to 37 - setting the stage for a long debate that stretched past 10 p.m.

House GOP leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk said that his caucus never expected to vote on the bill on Wednesday night. Instead, they expected that the session would end early because some legislators and staff members were headed to play in the annual Capitol basketball tournament.

"Tonight came as a bit of a surprise to some of us,'' Cafero said on the House floor. "Surprise. Surprise. Here we are. ... We're sort of handed this at 9 o'clock at night without a chance to bounce this off our constituents.''

Absolutely despicable. The 'RATs just continue to screw us in CT by ramming their sick agenda through, no matter what the people want. My husband and I will someday say good riddance to Connecticut, and this is one of the major reasons why... this is NOT the state of Connecticut that I grew up in...