Where are civil unions granted?
Vermont was the first state to pass civil unions, I think, probably in 2000, and it was the result of the Vermont Supreme Court ruling that discrimination against same sex couples in the marriage laws was unconstitutional, to the extent that same sex couples couldn't get the same rights and benefits that married people get. So the legislature, instead of doing the simple thing and allowing anyone to get married under state law, decided to create this whole separate institution called civil unions. And Vermont became the first state to do that. Connecticut followed, I think in 26 with civil unions, and New Jersey just followed in 27 by granting civil unions. Again in New Jersey it was after the court ruled that same sex couples have to have all of the same rights and benifits, and left it up to the legislature to figure out how to do that. And rather than change the definition of marriage to encompass all loving, committed couples, they created a whole new staute, that took tons of work and effort to create a second class status called civil unions, and that is just new in New Jersey. And the reality is, that they're finding in states that have civil unions, is that companies, insurance companies, other businesses, don't know what a civil union is, and they don't treat it equally. And only through marriage will we really have full equallity.
