With
Americans
engaged
in
an
unprecedented
dialogue
on
the
issue
of
gay
marriage,
the
nation’s
gay
civil
rights
groups
are
being
asked
whether
they
consider
Vermont-style
civil
unions
as
an
acceptable
alternative
to
civil
marriage
rights
for
same-sex
couples.
While
praising
Vermont
for
adopting
its
civil
unions
law,
leaders
of
virtually
all
of
the
national
gay
civil
rights
groups
have
come
down
solidly
behind
demanding
full
civil
marriage
for
gays,
saying
civil
unions
fail
to
provide
the
full
legal
rights
and
benefits
of
marriage.
“In
our
country,
we
have
just
one,
single
legal
protection
for
families,
and
it’s
called
marriage,”
said
Evan
Wolfson,
executive
director
of
Freedom
to
Marry,
a
national
group
helping
coordinate
lobbying
efforts
for
same-sex
marriage.
Representatives
from
a
number
of
gay
civil
rights
groups
said
that
benefits
provided
through
Vermont’s
civil
unions
law,
or
about
to
be
enacted
through
California’s
super
domestic
partners
law,
are
nice
stepping
stones
that
help
some
gay
couples
now.
But,
the
ultimate
goal
is
for
same-sex
couples
to
be
able
to
get
married
in
all
50
states
and
the
District
of
Columbia.
Wolfson,
a
gay
rights
attorney,
said
he’s
concerned
that
incorrect
information
surfacing
in
the
news
media
is
misleading
rank
and
file
gays
and
their
straight
supporters
into
thinking
a
civil
union
is
equal
to
civil
marriage
in
all
respects
except
its
name.
Confusion
over
the
difference
between
civil
marriage
and
civil
unions,
Wolfson
said,
could
hurt
efforts
to
achieve
full
marriage
rights.
“Gay
people
should
not
enter
into
a
discussion
of
bargaining
against
ourselves,”
he
said.
A
newly
formed
coalition
of
African
American
gays
raised
the
issue
of
civil
unions
versus
marriage
rights
this
week
in
announcing
plans
to
launch
a
$100,000
media
campaign
promoting
same-sex
marriage
in
the
black
community.
“Civil
unions
is
separate
and
unequal,”
said
Keith
Boykin,
co-founder
of
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition.
Boykin,
a
White
House
special
assistant
in
the
Clinton
administration,
compared
civil
unions
to
the
past
U.S.
policies
of
racial
segregation,
which
labeled
mandatory
all-black
school
districts
as
“separate
but
equal.”
“Our
whole
notion
is
you
don’t
go
half
a
loaf
for
civil
rights,”
said
Mandy
Carter,
one
of
the
African-American
gay
civil
rights
leaders
who
joined
Boykin
in
forming
the
black
coalition.
“We
don’t
want
to
settle
for
domestic
partnership
or
civil
unions,
not
that
they’re
not
important,”
Carter
said.
“But
if
we’re
going
to
go
out
and
advocate,
what
we
want
is
full
marriage
equality.”
The
concept
of
civil
unions
first
surfaced
in
Vermont
in
1999,
when
the
Vermont
Supreme
Court
ruled
that
the
state’s
marriage
law
excluding
marriage
rights
and
benefits
for
same-sex
couples
violated
the
Vermont
Constitution.
The
court
ruling
gave
the
legislature
the
option
of
changing
the
law
to
allow
same-sex
marriages
or
legal
“unions”
that
offered
the
same
rights
or
benefits
provided
by
the
state
for
heterosexual
married
couples.
The
state
legislature,
faced
with
a
highly
controversial
issue,
chose
the
civil
unions
option,
backed
by
the
state’s
governor
at
the
time,
Howard
Dean,
now
the
frontrunner
for
the
Democratic
presidential
nomination.
The
same-sex
marriage
versus
civil
unions
issue
surfaced
once
again
this
year
when
the
Massachusetts
Supreme
Judicial
Court
issued
a
ruling
nearly
identical
to
Vermont’s
high
court.
However,
some
legal
experts
have
said
that
the
Massachusetts
ruling
requires
the
legislature
to
open
up
the
state’s
marriage
law
to
full,
same-sex
marriage,
with
no
legal
wiggle
room
to
form
civil
unions.
Others
have
disagreed.
If
the
legislature
fails
to
act
by
a
court-imposed
deadline
of
May
15,
2004,
a
number
of
legal
analysts,
including
gay
rights
attorneys,
say
the
court
itself
may
declare
same-sex
marriage
to
be
legal
in
Massachusetts
and
order
the
state
to
provide
marriage
licenses
to
same-sex
couples.
Before
the
Massachusetts
ruling,
civil
unions
became
a
hot
topic
in
the
Democratic
presidential
election
campaign,
as
six
of
the
nine
Democrats
running
for
president
said
they
support
civil
unions
over
gay
marriage.
Three
candidates
lagging
in
the
polls
—
former
Senator
Carol
Moseley
Braun
of
Illinois,
Rep.
Dennis
Kucinich
of
Ohio,
and
the
Rev.
Al
Sharpton
of
New
York
—
have
declared
their
support
for
same-sex
marriage.
The
six
leading
candidates,
including
Dean,
have
argued
that
civil
unions
provide
all
the
legal
benefits
conferred
by
marriage.
Dean,
who
signed
Vermont’s
civil
union
law
as
governor,
has
said
he
also
favors
a
federal
law
providing
federal
marital
benefits
and
rights
to
those
joined
in
civil
unions.
Gay
rights
attorneys
concede
that
legalizing
same-sex
marriage
in
any
state,
including
Massachusetts,
would
not
provide
with
the
many
rights
and
benefits
associated
with
marriage
to
gay
couples
that
come
from
the
federal
government,
including
tax
deductions,
immigration
rights
and
Social
Security
survivor
benefits.
The
federal
Defense
of
Marriage
Act,
which
Congress
passed
and
President
Clinton
signed
in
1996,
bars
same-sex
couples
from
receiving
any
federal
marital
benefits,
though
activists
have
questioned
the
statute’s
constitutionality.
Why,
then,
do
most
of
the
nation’s
gay
rights
groups
claim
same-sex
marriage
is
preferable
to
civil
unions?
 |
Rep.
Tammy
Baldwin
(D-Wis.)
said
she
applauds
gays
striving
for
full
marriage
rights.
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