released from a Connecticut prison. LGBT policy On April 20, 2005, Rell signed into law a bill that made Connecticut the first state to adopt civil unions for same-sex couples without being directed to do so by a court. The law gives same-sex couples all of the 300+ rights, responsibilities, and privileges that the state gives to heterosexual couples, including the right to adopt children, awarding state income tax credits, inheritance rights, and allowing same-sex partners to be considered next-of-kin when it comes to making medical decisions for incapacitated partners, yet does not require employers to give equal insurance benefits as they would to heterosexual couples. The bill was amended to define marriage as "between a man and a woman" after Rell threatened a veto. Rell signed the bill despite some Republican opposition to it, including from the Chairman of the State Republicans at the time. Rell had announced that were the legislature to pass a bill establishing gay marriage in Connecticut, that she would veto the bill. On October 10, 2008, Connecticut courts ruled that the ban of gay marriage violated citizens rights guaranteed to them by the constitution. Governor Jodi Rell responded by saying she would not fight the decision. "The Supreme Court has spoken," she stated "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." However, on April 23, 2009, Rell signed a bill into law providing for a gender neutral marriage statute. It also provided for civil unions to be automatically transformed into marriages on October 1, 2010. Minimum wage In May 2008, Rell vetoed a bill to raise the minimum wage in the state of Connecticut. The legislature successfully voted to override Rell's veto in June 2008. The legislation raised Connecticut's minimum wage at the time, $7.65 an hour to $8.00 an hour beginning in January 2009, and to $8.25 an hour in 2010. Electoral history Personal life Rell was married to Lou Rell in 1967, with whom she has two grown children, Michael and Meredith. In April 2006, she became a grandmother. Her 2006 campaign advertisements featured her with her grandson. Rell underwent surgery for breast cancer in December 2004 and has remained healthy since. Her husband, Lou Rell, died on March 22, 2014