The General Assembly's Judiciary Committee on Monday afternoon voted 30-10 to codify last October's landmark state Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage.

If approved by the Senate, then the House and signed into law by the governor, the legislation would create a transition period for those same-sex couples who joined together in civil unions.

Couples could either end those existing unions or automatically become married under state law. The bill would also delete references in existing state law to marriage being solely a relationship between a man and a women.

"This legislation is crafted with an eye toward conforming our state law to the mandate of the Connecticut Supreme Court," Sen. Andrew J. McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the committee, referring to the October 10 decision in Kerrigan & Mock v. the Connecticut Department of Health.