Connecticut Approves Civil Unions for Gays
In case this news fell off the wires too quickly for you to see it, here it is again--Connecticut has become the first state to extend real legal rights to gay couples without a court order. It wasn't even close--the bill passed by a three-to-one margin in the Senate and 85-63 in the House. And a Republican governor signed it.
The bill gives gays and lesbians all the same rights as married couples--but only in Connecticut. They still can't file their federal taxes jointly, a sticking point that will eventually have to be worked out if more states go this route.
Unfortunately, the bill includes an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Still, this is a sensible compromise, one that should show the way to other states where gay rights are not anathema to the voting public. Illinois, for instance? And if the federal government eventually added a civil union category to its tax forms and amended laws implicating marriage to extend rights to gay couples--survivor benefits under Social Security, for instance--that would be OK with me. Yes, I believe that we should get the word--it describes something special in our culture, and denying it to gay couples denies us a measure of humanity. But if the word means that much to the other side, they can have it--as long as I can visit my partner in life at the hospital without restriction, know that he'll inherit my things if I die, and file my taxes with him. Call it whatever you want--I know what makes a marriage. All this administrative stuff is important, and well worth fighting for. But what you call my relationship doesn't change what it is.
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