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NAME: US GAY MAR 20081112I TAPE: EF08/1142 IN_TIME: 10:12:46:04 DURATION: 00:02:25:10 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION DATELINE: New Haven, 12 Nov 2008 RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST 1 Two women kissing 2 Exchanging of rings 3 Zoom out from wedding party photograph 4 SOUNDBITE: (English) Peg Oliveira, Newlywed: Those storybooks that you read where they say 'and they live happily ever after' and use the word 'marriage', my child will now understand that's the exact same same thing that her parents have 5 Gay couples embracing 6 SOUNDBITE: (English) Jonathan Silbert, Connecticut Judge: I wish you all good luck, congratulations and best wishes, and with that we'll adjourn All rise! 7 Pan from judge to couples rising 8 SOUNDBITE: (English) Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General: We need to put aside past objections, opinions, positions and make sure the state's highest court and its order are honoured and enforced 9 Woman blowing bubbles 10 Women smiling, one holding marriage license to camera 11 Close of marriage license 12 SOUNDBITE: (English) Barbara Levine-Ritterman, Plaintiff: I feel like my love for Robin can be recognised in the same way that anybody else's love can be recognised And it means so much to me 13 Male couple kissing 14 Crowds walking 15 SOUNDBITE: (English) John Anderson, Plaintiff: It's like a party We're all ecstatic It's taken so long to get here And you say 'well where is here?' It's being equal to everybody else walking down the street It's such a simple thing 16 SOUNDBITE: (English) Garrett Stack, Plaintiff: It's a day of freedom It's a a day of equality And there's nothing like being free, it's a magnificent day for civil rights in the United States although it's limited to Connecticut and Massachusetts, it's a day of freedom 17 Reverse shot of woman's hands with form STORYLINE Same-sex couples began marrying in Connecticut on Wednesday after a judge cleared the way, a victory for gay-rights activists still enraged over the vote last week that cost them the right to wed in California The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on October 10 that same-sex couples have the right to wed rather than accept a 2005 civil union law designed to give them the same rights as married couples A lower-court judge entered a final order permitting same-sex marriage on Wednesday morning In Connecticut, celebrating couples, some carrying red roses, streamed into the clerk's office to get their licenses President of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association, said clerks in the state's 169 communities were advised by e-mail shortly after 9:30 am (1430 GMT) that they could start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples The Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, said it was important to forget past objections, opinions, positions According to the state public health department, 2,032 civil union licenses were issued in Connecticut between October 2005 and July 2008 The health department had new marriage applications printed that reflect the change Instead of putting one name under bride and the other under groom, couples will see two boxes marked bride/groom/spouse Connecticut voters could have opened the door to ending gay marriage last week by voting for a constitutional convention to amend the state's constitution, but the measure was defeated The state's 2005 civil union law will remain on the books, at least for now Same-sex couples can continue to enter civil unions, which give them the same legal rights and privileges in Connecticut as married couples without the status of being married Massachusetts is the only other state that allows gay marriages Like the highest courts in that state and Connecticut, the California Supreme Court had ruled in the spring that same-sex marriage was legal But after thousands such unions were conducted in that state, California voters last week approved a referendum banning the practice Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage also passed last week in Arizona and Florida, and Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents The California vote has sparked protests and several lawsuits asking that state's Supreme Court to overturn the prohibition A group of Southern California activists has launched an effort to have simultaneous protests outside state houses and city halls in every US state on Saturday Word of the event has spread through social networking sites such as Facebook, and protests have been scheduled outside the US Capitol and in more than 100 cities