Should straight people who do not belong to a pertucular religious faith have to get a "civil union"

Question

since the argument against gay "marriage" is that it's a religious term ...

Answer 1

The problem is, the term "marriage" is used for two entirely unrelated things -- religious unions and civil legal unions.

I think to avoid the problems with religious groups, all states should only grant civil unions for purposes of legal benefits -- that way, the term "marriage" is solely a matter of personal and/or religious usage, and has no legal meaning.

Answer 2

Civil marriage is not civil union. There is a semantic difference and there may be substantive differences in terms of inheritance, divorce, child custody, property ownership. Taxes still cannot be filed jointly in the absence of marriage, which the federal income tax law treats as the marriage of a man and a woman, so another reason why civil union would not work for a heterosexual union.

Answer 3

Many straight people do have civil marriage wherein they get married in the court house.