I want to know what you think about civil unions?? I continue to have many legislators tell me they would support a civil union’s bill. (They had a chance this last session and it didn’t make it out of committee… but I already talked about that!)
I’ve had some very interesting discussions with my gay friends on civil unions. Some think it would be great, some think it would be a good ‘temporary’ compromise, some would not be happy until we have full marriage equality and nothing less.
One of my friends told me the issue is so contentious in the gay community, that it would drive a wedge of disagreement for years to come into our cities and towns. What?? Gay people arguing about what to do? Gay people being extremely opinionated? My friends certainly aren’t like that!
I joke, but I could see this debate turning rather ugly within the gay community and our opponents would have a field day with this. Our opponents said this is a slippery slope and is nothing more than gay marriage in sheep’s clothing. They said civil unions are a stepping stone to legalizing gay marriage and every other state that has gotten civil unions ultimately ended up with same sex marriage on the books. (I fact checked this and its wrong!) Of all the committee meetings I sat through this last legislative session, the civil unions meeting was by far the ugliest!
One of the things everyone agrees on, same sex marriage is not going to happen in Wyoming any time soon. My legislative friends have said they want it, and some day we will get it, but right now it is a battle we can’t win. One of my concerns about a civil union’s bill is that it would probably come right alongside another HB74 or SJ5.
Hawaii just passed a civil union’s bill. Here is an excellent Q and A about what it does and doesn’t do from Lambda Legal. http://data.lambdalegal.org/publications/downloads/fs_hawaiis-2011-civil-unions-bills-faqs.pdf
So I want to know what you think. I want to hear from the LGTB community and I want to hear from our straight friends. Would you ask your legislators to support a civil union’s bill?
Jeran
People keep saying that Civil Unions are a step in the right direction. While they do give rights to gay couples its still not equality unless we get full on marriage! I would never get a civil union because I want a marriage and its what I think I deserve.
ReplyDeleteYou've already heard my thoughts on this, but really marriage in general has no place in government for anyone. Get rid of it. In fact, marriage's continued existence in government almost boils down to a historic argument in semantics that is just so stupid. Even though we were founded with the idea of "separation of church and state" our founding fathers weren't so great at the whole separation of religion and state thing. And really, the population of the country was 99% Christian regardless of flavour, so as long as they kept it vague, they were solid. So, back in the day, marriage in law had the same definition as marriage in the church: "a joining of a man and a woman under God." THEN, when the mix of people living in the country started to get crazy, they changed the official definition of marriage to what it is in the dictionary today: "The union of two people, to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life." Aha! So if God has nothing to do with the government version of marriage anymore, why are the church-folk getting so worked up about it? Because they still have their own definition of marriage that conflicts with the new one. Now we've got half the population seeing marriage (within government) for what it really is - a set of legal privileges and responsibilities - and the other half clinging to an archaic form of the term that is no longer relevant to our legal system. The long and short of it is, I'm down with civil unions as long as that's what EVERYBODY has to go get. Leave marriage as a seperate thing between a person, their partner, and the religious leader figure. I mean, hell, there are churches and synagogues that are willing to perform ceremonies between same-sex couples; why should the government then step and say, "Um, no. We don't agree with your religious leader's version of religion, so we're not gonna give you a tax break." Really? REALLY?! If government continues to cling to the marriage word, then that should belong to everybody and not just a certain group. I'm half tempted to go running about, beating people upside the head with a dictionary untill they figure it out. So, you know, rambling mess aside, those are my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts Landon and Stephanie! I agree, we have gotten away from seperation of church and state big time. We shouldn't even need to have this debate in my opinion, but I guess we do. So we will!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with civil unions as long as they gurantee the same rights as marriage. Otherwise they are worthless.
ReplyDeleteCivil unions are today's "separate but equal". Southern racists used the concept to wall out blacks from them, and sexual bigots are using the civil union concept in much the same way. The Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education ruled that separating people in common public goods was inherently unequal and accordingly violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
ReplyDeleteLGBTQ folks who advocate for civil unions are essentially asking for "separate but equal" marriages. How many black folks advocated for "separate but equal" schools? Were they nuts, too?
Stick to the real goal, which is a fair and equal treatment for same-sex couples to make tax-recognized unions, whether called marriage or something else. I think stephanie has it just right - if same-sex marriage is not recognized then neither should different-sex marriages - let the government get out of the marrying business altogether!
Great Comment TitleMan!
ReplyDelete