In a 4-3 ruling today, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned the gay marriage ban, expanding the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. The ruling marks the end of a four-year lawsuit waged by eight same-sex couples who sued the state after being denied marriage licenses.

From the Associated Press:

The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut’s civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Importantly, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell said she disagreed with the ruling, but urged conservative activists not to fight it.

“The Supreme Court has spoken,” Rell said in a statement. “I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision — either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution — will not meet with success.”

Connecticut joins Massachusetts and California in allowing same-sex marriage. Speaking as a heterosexual woman—-admittedly, one with no current interest in marriage—-I think heterosexual couples would do well to take this into account when planning to get hitched. A man and a woman who marry in one of the 47 states (and District of Columbia) that don’t allow gay marriage do so knowing that their relatives, neighbors, and friends are not afforded that same privilege. Same-sex couples shouldn’t be the only ones traveling to Connecticut to make it official.