Sonia Osuna beamed as she declared the woman in a white dress and the woman in a
suit standing before her as life partners.
It was the latest of about 30 civil union ceremonies Osuna has performed as a Stratford justice of the peace since they became legal under Connecticut law in October 2005. She conducted the ceremony with vigor, going so far as to call the union a "marriage" -- although under the law here and in 47 other states, it is not recognized as such.
"God does not make a love that is wrong," she told the Stratford couple, Vivien Byrd and Deirdre Simeon.
Osuna is among the justices of the peace in Connecticut who choose to join gay couples in civil unions. Others opt not to perform the ceremony and, unlike their counterparts in Massachusetts, aren't penalized for that decision. Justices of the peace in Connecticut can refuse to perform a civil union just like they can opt not to do a wedding, for whatever reason.
There are 53,000 justice of the peace slots in the state, but the Secretary of the State's Office estimates that fewer than half of those -- 20,000 to 25,000 -- are filled. Because not every community collects data, there are no official numbers on how many will or will not perform civil unions, which provide virtually the same legal rights as marriage in the state.
But it's clear that there is a significant difference between the numbers of JPs who will officiate at weddings between a man and woman, and same-sex unions.
Stratford reports that 15 of its 41 justices of the peace have specified they will perform civil unions, while Milford and Ansonia each name 17 of 24 as willing, according to their respective town clerk offices.
Byrd and Simeon, who picked Osuna to perform their ceremony after viewing her Web site, were surprised to learn that someone on the list they got from the Bridgeport Vital Records Department could have turned them down.
Simeon said they felt "more comfortable" with a justice of the peace officiating, and feel that all justices of the peace, as public officials, "should perform the ceremony as part of their duties.
"They play a major role because a lot of ministers ... don't want to get involved," she said. "We basically were left with no other choice."
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