Yay, New Jersey Approves Gay Civil Unions!! Awesome! Now gay people will have the exact same rights in New Jersey as all of their straight neighbors do!!!
Except, they won't....
I'm sick and tired of hearing how so many straight people support civil unions because they supposedly grant the same rights to gay couples that straight couples get. "I'm all for Civil Unions as long as they get the same rights!" Well, wake up people, we DO NOT GET THE SAME RIGHTS. Sure, we may get most (if not all, but usually not all) of the rights, responsibilities, privileges, etc. from the STATE government, but the FEDERAL government still considers us complete strangers before the law. Anything that the Feds give married couples us CIVIL UNION folks are denied. And NO they can't all be secured by legal contracts. There's no lawyer in the world who will be able to legitimately draw up a contract allowing me to benefit from Michael's Social Security payments. Nor can a lawyer draw up a document allowing me immunity against testifying against Michael (should he ever have to defend himself in court). And Civil Unions are only good for the state in which they are issued. My Domestic Partnership with Michael ends at the state line. Even if we went to Vermont, or Massachusetts, or now New Jersey, our Domestic Partnership would not be recognized. However, with a marriage license issued to a heterosexual couple in any of the 50 states, my neighbors could travel to any other state in the union and have their legal relationship recognized.
I'm often asked in conversations about gay marriage why I can't be satisfied with Civil Unions/Domestic Partnerships. Would you be? This is clearly a case of "Separate but not Equal." It didn't work for racism, and it won't work for heterosexism.
Marriage. Nothing less is acceptable! (Though I'd be a fool not take advantage of it when it's offered.)
JOhn.