Proposition 8 may have lost last week in California, but gay couples still have an alternative wedding venue at Connecticut. Hartford will start to issue marriage license and solemnize weddings of gay and lesbian couples beginning Wednesday following a final judgment from Superior Court Judge Jonathan Silbert.

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled on Oct. 10 that gay couples have the right to wed instead of just being joined by a civil union law. With the ruling, Connecticut joins Massachusetts as the only U.S. state that legalize same-sex marriages following the defeat of Proposition 8 in California and similar proposition in Arizona and Florida.

From October 2005 to July 2008, 2,032 civil union licenses were issued in Connecticut, according to the state public health department. There is no estimate how many gay couples will tie the knot.

Democrat Rep. Michael Lawlor, who backs gay rights, said the issue of gay rights may not be a large one in Connecticut because state residents have their energies focused on their economic problems.

"It's an interesting issue, fascinating from a political science point of view, but it's not hear the top of anyone's list... it's just not that big a deal," Lawlor told the Hartford Courant. He added, "Today will come and go and I think what kind of puppy Barack Obama will get will be a much bigger topics of conversation in Connecticut than the fact that several dozen couples will get married."