How do the rights and obligations granted in marriage differ from those granted in a civil union?
A civil union is different from marriage in several ways. First, civil unions get absolutely none of the government benefits that the federal government gives to married couples. So I'm talking over rights and benefits, including tax benefits, social security benefits, survivor benefits, and the right to immigrate for your spouse. If you're in a civil union, you get none of those. If you're married, you get all of those. So that's one major significant difference. Another major significant difference is, a civil union is clearly of secondary status, and it's the government way of saying “We're going to give you the rights and benefits, but you're not really equal to a married couple.” So it sends a stigma to people who are in civil unions in same sex relationships that the government doesn't treat you equally and you're given a second class status. No one grows up thinking “Wow, I want to be civil unionized,” or “domestic partner shipped.” A civil commitment sounds like what happens when you go into a mental institution, not when you go into a relationship. So there's a real stigma associated with any time when a government sets up a separate and unequal system which is what civil unions are.
