By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press Writer

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Connecticut state Rep. Beth Bye and Tracey Wilson hope to become the first gay couple to marry legally in their town of West Hartford on Wednesday.

For Wilson, it's both a personal and professional milestone. She's the town's historian.

"She'd love to be the first one in town," joked Bye, who spent hours as a lawmaker listening to testimony on the marriage issue in 2007. She was a member of the Judiciary Committee which approved a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed.

In 2005, Bye and Wilson had a church ceremony with more than 150 guests to celebrate their civil union. On Wednesday, they plan to show up at town hall in street clothes, with their kids and a friend who is a justice of the peace to make it official.

"I think for us, we really were married three years ago in our church," Bye said. "But it feels different that our state is saying, 'now you're married. You have the same rights as everyone else.'"

Superior Court Judge Jonathan Silbert has scheduled a hearing at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday in New Haven to enter the final judgment in the case that allows same-sex marriages in Connecticut. Once the hearing ends, couples can pick up marriage license forms at town and city clerk's offices.

It's unclear how many couples will get married. The state public health department says 2,032 civil union licenses were issued in Connecticut between October 2005 and July 2008.

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Oct. 10 that same-sex couples have the right to wed rather than accept a civil union law. Only Connecticut and Massachusetts have legalized gay marriage.

The unions were legal in California until voters narrowly passed a ban last week. At least three lawsuits ask that state's Supreme Court to overturn the vote.

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.

But in Connecticut, voters rejected the idea of a constitutional convention to amend the state's constitution, dealing a major blow to opponents of same-sex marriage.

"There's always that worry in the back of our head," Peg Oliveira said about the possibility of someday losing her marriage rights. "I don't see it going in that direction right now."

Oliveira, a 36-year-old yoga teacher and educational consultant, plans to marry Jennifer Vickery, a 44-year-old lawyer, on the New Haven green on Wednesday. Oliveira said marriage will make clear her spouse's rights to raise their 3-month-old baby if something should happen to her.

"We're thrilled and we don't want to wait one minute," Oliveira said. "I want to show the folks who worked so hard to make this possible that we are very grateful and we don't want to wait any longer to be able to say the words 'We are married.'"

Oliveira and Vickery did not enter into a civil union, believing the arrangement would have signaled to lawmakers that they had done enough.

"There's a world of understanding to the word marriage that simply doesn't exist with civil unions," Oliveira said. "The relationship feels validated by the external world."

Ross Zachs, a 44-year-old business owner in Bloomfield, plans to marry his partner, Michael Miller, 43, on Wednesday in West Hartford.

"It's really exciting," Zachs said, noting that they both grew up in Connecticut. "It is a long time coming. I'm glad I get to see this day in Connecticut."

Zachs said he and Miller had a commitment ceremony last year, but did not enter into a civil union.

"We wanted something equal to everybody else," Zachs said.

Zachs said he hopes one day that gay marriage will be recognized around the country. Despite the setbacks in other states, he cited polls showing younger voters more open to the issue.

"I'm hoping the pendulum is moving in the other direction," Zachs said.

The Family Institute of Connecticut, a political action group that opposes gay marriage, condemned the court decision as undemocratic. Peter Wolfgang, the group's executive director, acknowledged banning gay marriage in Connecticut would be difficult but vowed not to give up.

"Unlike California, we did not have a remedy," Wolfgang said. "It must be overturned with patience, determination and fortitude."

The state's 2005 civil unions 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.

State Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, said lawmakers will have to decide the fate of the civil union law.

"We'll definitely be taking this up," he said. The new legislative session opens in January.