honestly,why don't we as gays just be contented with civil union?

Question

i really don't give a damn anymore.if cristians want there term marriage only meant for a man and a woman why not keep it that way?we all can't get what we want

isn't civil union the same as marriage though?

Answer 1

It is not about marriage or civil unions. It is mostly about RIGHTS!
C.U. doesn't come with all the benefits that the marriage label conveys legally, including inheritance, immigration, and federal tax rights, to mention a few.

Unfortuantely, it might be the case of having to accept C.U.s as a political pragmatism, since the push to have marriages has resulted in a popular back-lash with anti-gay amendments in 31 states.

Answer 2

There's a couple of reasons. The first one is that NO, civil unions are NOT the same as marriage. "Civil union" can mean anything a given state wants it to. Many are pretty good about giving the same rights (on a state level) as marriage, but they don't have to. They could leave some out and still call it a civil union. When it's called something different, you flat out do not know what you're getting. Also, no civil union (or even marriage at this point thanks to one Mr. Clinton and his DOMA), even if passed on the state level, will be recognized at the federal level. This means that no other state will recognize it (if a partner is hospitalized on a vacation, the other person is left without rights etc), and also that the federal government will not give out any of its 1000 something marriage rights. THe last reason is simply that seperate but equal can never work. Even if the two institutions STARTED completely equal, it'd be REALLY easy to come along later and pass legislation that only applied to the one, and not the other (either limiting ours, or expanding theirs; it doesn't really matter). If the Christians want "marriage", fine, but that means that along with us giving it up, the government will have to also. The SAME institution for everyone at the governmental level.

Answer 3

I really think the civil unions will become the law of the land eventually. Civil unions will have the same inheritance, hospital visitation, income tax, and all the legal rights and responsibilities that marriage provides.

Every couple---gay or straight---will submit an application to the state for a civil union license and will become a state-recognized civil union. Then, those who want to get married can go to a church or other house of worship and do so. The churches will decide who they wish to marry and who they don't, but everyone will be recognized by the State as a civil union.

If a church doesn't want to marry gays, they don't have to. That is their right. On the other hand though, if some churches do want to marry gays, then that is also their right. Married or not won't make any difference as far as legal rights, protections, and responsibilities though.

And yes, you are right; the fundamentalist Christians don't want equality for gays because that would legitimize gay relationships. Too bad for them; gay human beings and gay relationships are legitimate, whether fundamentalists like it or not.

Answer 4

1. Civil Unions do not carry all the same rights and legal recognitions as a marriage.
2. Marriage is a federally recognized contract, Civil Unions are not.
3. Brown VS Board of Education established the fact that any two institutions that offer the exact same rights yet are reserved for different people is Unconstitutional(Separate but Equal) as they create a legal form of segregation.
4. No other form of Legal Contract is restricted by the gender of those who wish to sign and abide by that contract. Discrimination on the basis of gender is illegal.
5. Lawrence VS Texas states that what occurs in the bedroom between two consenting adults is private and not a matter for the courts, not only would this cover Sodomy laws, this would ALSO cover any requirements/legal restrictions of consummation of a marriage.

Very simply, I refuse to drink from a different water fountain or ride in the back of the bus.

Answer 5

For me, it all goes back to the Supreme Court Ruling in Brown vs. The Board of Education Topeka, Kansas (1954). The Court ruled that no two institutions could exist as separate but equal. That is, one is less equal than the other. Obviously in this case a civil union is less equal than marriage hence it is an illegal practice. My proposal is this... we should work on the separation of church and state by keeping government out of marriage. Matrimony is a religious sacrament not a government invented institution. If any private church wants to make matrimony exclusively heterosexual they have that right. However I propose that the state only recognize civil unions whether hetero or homosexual couples are involved. That way everyone will be equal under the law but heterosexual couples can also be married in their church at the same time.

Answer 6

Well, yes, maybe that is true, that the Christians will be OK with that; but I don't think so.

What we are wanting here is equal rights, though, as Kedar said. And in the US, it has been shown that separate but equal is NOT equal. Calling something that is equivalent to marriage, but called something else will ALWAYS be thought to be inferior. Civil unions will not give us gays the equivalent to marriage, no matter how it is worded. If it is marriage, call it MARRIAGE! If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, call it a duck!

Unfortunately no, civil unions are not the same. If they were the same, there would be no reason to call them something different!

Answer 7

If it were a matter of a term for the same thing, I wouldn't mind one bit!

However... If I'm in a civil union, I miss out on all of the federal rights of marriage. There are 1,049 of them last I heard.

The biggest one for me... If my partner and I are Unioned here in Vermont, where we live, and we go visit his family in New York, and on the way, say just over the border into New York, we get in a car accident and he is in the ER but I am fine. In New York, that Civil Union means nothing, I am not considered family, and I will be stuck in a waiting room.

Answer 8

I have said the same thing before. I know that many people want to be allowed to have EQUAL rights as a heterosexual couple but I'd be happy with just civil unions because right now in the state of Wisconsin we have no relationship rights.

Answer 9

Some gay people ARE perfectly happy with it and some are not. Different people have different opinions.

The reality is that civil unions carry no federal recognition and are therefore not legally equal. There is no legitimate reason why the gay community should accept LESS.

Answer 10

It is about rights, true. But if you love someone already you don't need some priest I agree. Civil unions have everything that we would need, sharing of benefits and says in our spouse well being and all that .**** the church!