sentences:  The majority opinion was subsequently upheld by the United States Supreme Court.On October 10, 2008, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in "Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health" that gay and lesbian couples could not be denied the right to marry because of the Equal Protection Clause of the state constitution.This decision made Connecticut the third state (along with Massachusetts and California) to legalize same-sex marriage through judicial decree of the state supreme court.