In a 4-3 decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled today that the state’s ban on permitting marriage rights for same-sex couples was discriminatory. In an 85-page decision the state’s highest court determined that Connecticut’s civil unions did not create protections equal to those available to heterosexual married couples.

Same-sex couples will likely be allowed to marry by the end of the year.

On November 4, 2008, voters in Connecticut will decide whether to hold a constitutional convention. According to an article posted on Courant.com, the Web site of the Hartford Courant newspaper, “[those] in favor of the convention want direct initiative, which would allow for a statewide referendum on same-sex marriage by all voters.”

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry under state law, and marriages commenced in May 2004. The California Supreme Court in May issued a similar ruling, and voters there will decide a ballot measure that would overrule the court decision. Marriages began this summer.

While California’s Proposition 8 has received widespread national media attention, voters in other states will consider marriage-related initiatives this November.

Florida’s ballot includes a constitutional amendment that says: “No other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

And Arizona voters will consider a constitutional amendment that says: “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”