A bill passed Wednesday in the Connecticut House of Representatives recognizes same-sex civil unions, which moves Connecticut one step closer to becoming the first state to establish civil unions through legislation.

The House voted 85-63 in favor of the bill, but with the notable addition of an amendment defining marriage as an act between a man and a woman. The state Senate will vote on the bill this Wednesday in Hartford, and if approved, it will go to Governor Jodi Rell to be signed into law.

The amendment was a huge blow to long-time supporters of the bill such as Love Makes a Family, the primary advocacy group for marriage equality in Connecticut. The original marriage equality bill that they advocated was amended into a civil unions bill to get it out of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Judiciary.

The amendment that interprets marriage as an act between a man and woman was added in the house much more recently. It was largely due to Governor Rell, who publicly stated that she would only sign the bill if it had a “defense of marriage” provision. Although Wesleyan students joined the rest of the state in providing extremely mixed reactions, most agree there will be some benefit if the civil unions bill passes.

“Even though it sends this signal that the legislature isn’t committed to full equality, it’s still a huge improvement over the status quo,” said Jacob Goldin ’07. “It gives same-sex partners legal recognition and many benefits that were previously only available to married couples. So although I don’t support the provision defining marriage, I still support the bill.”

SAME (Students Advocating Marriage Equality) is a group of concerned students on campus that have worked with Love Makes a Family for the past few months. Earlier in the year, Wesleyan students helped canvas for the group and also attended the public hearings for the bill in Hartford. Two students, Judith Klausner ’07 and Brian Brotman ’07, were even able to present their views to the judiciary committee. Students also worked with Love Makes a Family to make posters and even helped to host a workshop for Middletown high school students who wanted to get involved.

Although Love Makes a Family has not clearly indicated whether or not they support the amended bill, the group’s official statement released Wednesday emphasized that access to marriage remains an unfulfilled promise for same-sex couples in Connecticut.

“We are happy that certain legislators have heeded the call for rights and responsibilities that same sex-couples deserve and need, but we are deeply disappointed that legislators added this discriminatory anti-family language,” said Carol Buckheit, the group’s Community Outreach Coordinator.

Although the new amendment is causing mixed emotions among marriage equality advocates all over the state, the passing of the civil unions bill in Connecticut would still represent months and even years of hard work for many activists.

“SAME was really a working group made up of people that cared about the issue and the fact that this is happening now,” Goldin said. “One thing it showed us was that in a lot of Connecticut politics, it’s really easy to get involved and apply pressure, and a new willingness and desire to get involved on the state level definitely emerged.”