 This coming Monday, the 12th marks the four-year anniversary since marriages started in Connecticut. So let's take a look back at how Connecticut won the freedom to marry, and what's happened since. At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I'm Matt Baume, and welcome to a special episode of Marriage News Watch. Just as in other states, the campaign to win marriage equality in Connecticut was a combination of sound legal strategy and a lot of patience. It started in 2004 when gay and lesbian advocates and defenders filed a lawsuit challenging the state's anti-gay laws. It took nearly two years for the case to reach its first judgment, and initially, our side lost. The Superior Court ruled in 2006 that the only difference between marriage and civil unions is the name. And because Connecticut had civil unions since 2005, the judge reasoned, that was close enough to marriage. In essence, the judge ruled that civil unions are equal enough. But we know that's not true. When you look at the facts, it's clear that relegating gay and lesbian couples to second-class status is far from equal. There are real legal consequences, as well as emotional harm. That's a finding that multiple state commissions would find over the next few years, as well as the District Court in California in the Prop 8 case. Knowing they were right, GLAAD appealed the ruling, they presented arguments before the Connecticut Supreme Court, and after another year and a half, they won. The Supreme Court ruled that civil unions require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others. The guarantee of equal protection under the law forbids us from doing so. And that was that. The ruling came down on October 10th, less than a month before Prop 8 would be voted into law, and the state issued its first marriage licenses to LGBT couples on November 12, 2008. Mount surprisingly, public support for the freedom to marry has increased over the last decade. Nine years ago, 44% of Connecticut residents supported marriage with 50% opposed. By 2008, when the Supreme Court legalized marriage, those numbers effectively flipped. And today, we have 55% support to just 33% opposed. And a 2005 report from the Williams Institute estimated that the first three years of marriage in Connecticut would result in a net gain of $3.1 million in taxes. That report was authored, in part, by Professor Lee Badgett, whom several years later would serve as a witness in AVER's case to overturn Prop 8. Of course, our work still isn't over. The federal government still doesn't recognize the marriages of thousands of gay and lesbian couples who have gotten married in Connecticut. That's why AVER remains committed to bringing about full federal marriage equality for all Americans. Visit us over at AFER.org to learn more about our case and to help us expand the freedom to marry from coast to coast. At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I'm Matt Baume. Thanks for watching.