In a decision released on October 10, 2008, the Connecticut Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the state's prohibition on same-sex marriage and its civil union law.

These laws, the majority in a 4-3 decision ruled, violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.

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In the wide-ranging majority opinion, Justice Richard N. Palmer declared that "Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same-sex partner of their choice." He added that "To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others."

Pointing out that "civil unions enjoy a lesser status in our society than marriage," Justice Palmer declared that "Ultimately, the message of the civil unions law is that what same-sex couples have is not as important or as significant as real marriage."

As in the California decision, the Connecticut Court also ruled that sexual orientation was a "suspect" category entitled to "strict scrutiny" in determining allegations of discrimination.

Three justices entered dissents from the ruling. Two of them disagreed that civil unions provided fewer rights and responsibilities than marriage and thought that the issue of marriage equality could best be resolved through the legislative process, pointing to increased public support in the state for same-sex marriage. They also argued against applying "strict scrutiny" to issues involving sexual orientation, contending that gay people have "unique and extraordinary" political power and therefore do not warrant heightened constitutional protections.

The dissent by Justice Peter Zarella argued that marriage laws dealt with procreation, which, he declared, was not a factor in gay relationships, apparently ignoring the fact that many same-sex couples have children. "The ancient definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman has its basis in biology, not bigotry," he wrote.

On November 12, 2008, at a time when glbtq communities in California and elsewhere were protesting against the passage of Proposition 8, gay and lesbian couples in Connecticut began exercising their right to marry.

On April 23, 2009 the Connecticut legislature voted to replace the gendered language of its marriage laws with genderless terms and to make all references to marriage gender-neutral. Governor Jodi Rell signed the law. This legislation brings the state into compliance with the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality.

Victory in Iowa

In a unanimous ruling announced on April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court struck down the Iowa law banning same-sex marriage on equal protection grounds.

The decision, authored by Justice Mark Cady, stemmed from a 2005 lawsuit filed by six gay and lesbian couples who were denied marriage licenses by the Polk County recorder's office. The seven justices affirmed the appellate ruling of Polk County Judge Robert Hanson that Iowa's ban on same-sex marriages treated gay and lesbian couples unequally under the law.

In a carefully reasoned and firmly stated decision, the court declared, "We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective. The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification. There is no material fact, genuinely in dispute, that can affect this determination."