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12/10/2007
Civil unions: Not marriage, not marriage barometers
The folks at Focus on the Family are once again working that tired line that one can measure the need and desire for marriage equality by examining how many gay couples have signed up for civil unions in the locales where such are available. After quoting some short-sighted numbers regarding who in VT, CT, and NJ have entered into such a union, FOF CitizenLink says the following:
“There are actually only a very small percentage of homosexual couples that desire that type of legal union, so once that demand is met, it drops off significantly," said Jenny Tyree, associate marriage analyst for Focus on the Family Action
Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, said he questions the argument that gay couples desperately need such legal benefits.
“This puts the lie to all of that," he said, "because if it really was such a hardship to live as a partnered couple without the benefits of marriage, then you would think they would all rush out to sign up as soon as those legal benefits were available to them.”
The obvious problem with their logic? Many, many, MANY marriage-craving gay couples abstain from entering into a civil union because they find the very idea offensive. Others choose to not take the civil unions step because they already have a domestic partnership, and they don't want to take another not-quite-marriage step until they get full and equal access. Others get their news solely from "Access Hollywood," and are (a) therefore not aware that they have the ability, and are (b) really wishing you would shut up so that they could learn more about the minutiae of Britney's day. But no matter the specific reasons, there are plenty of good ones why committed couples (straight or gay, actually) decide not to take interim steps between their decision to spend a lifetime together and their legally-wedded honeymoon. And it is complete and utter bullsh*t to make it sound as if lack of enthusiasm for the final goal is the reason why the couple has opted out of the transitional form of legal parity!
FOF (and FRC): The number of civil unions that have or have not taken place do not "put the lie to" anything other than the idea that such are acceptable vehicles through which to confer rights to gay couples. Not until we eliminate the piecemeal, "recognized in this state but not others," non-federally-recognized, quasi-marriage systems and replace them with an easily understandable blanket of fairness, can we accurately gauge gays' marriage interest. And considering you are the massive, stubborn roadblock on that path towards congruence, perhaps you should stop pointing fingers and start rationally questioning your own stone-throwing.
Same-Sex Couples Forgo Civil Unions [CitizenLink]
Technorati Tags: civil unions
Your thoughts
You know, if so few gay people are signing up for civil unions/domestic partnerships, and if, as they say, it follows that not many gay people would get married, then what the heck are they afraid of?
Posted by: Cindi Knox | Dec 11, 2007 3:39:16 PM
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