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Civil Union Information
What Is A Civil Union?
A civil union is one of several terms for a civil status
similar to marriage, typically created for the purposes of allowing homosexual
couples access to the benefits enjoyed by married heterosexuals (see also
same-sex marriage); it can also be used by couples of differing sexes who do not
prefer to enter into the legal institution of marriage but who would rather be
in a union more similar to a common-law marriage.
Many different types of civil unions exist. Some are identical to marriage in
nearly every respect except name; some have many but not all of the rights
accorded to married couples (sometimes called Registered Partnerships); some are
simple registries (also called domestic partnerships.)
Some jurisdictions that have passed civil unions include Vermont (2000) and
Connecticut (2005) in the United States; Quebec and Nova Scotia in Canada;
France and Denmark (1989), Norway (1993), Sweden (1994), Iceland (1996), Finland
(2000), Germany (2001), Portugal (2001), the Swiss canton of Zurich (2002), the
Argentine city of Buenos Aires (2003), and New Zealand and the Australian state
of Tasmania (2004).
In 2001, the Netherlands gave same-sex marriage equal status with opposite-sex
marriage, in addition to its 1998 "registered partnership" law (civil union) for
both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Belgium did likewise in 2003. Between
June 2003 and June 2005, courts in eight provinces and one territory of Canada
extended marriage to include same-sex couples. Bill C-38, extending same-sex
marriage throughout Canada, was passed by the House of Commons on June 28, 2005,
and is being considered by the Senate. Gay marriage is also legal in the U.S.
state of Massachusetts. See same-sex marriage.
A much larger number of jurisdictions, largely individual municipalities and
counties, have passed rules to register same-sex unions; for information on
this, see domestic partnership.
In July 2004, the U.S. state of New Jersey enacted a law that is virtually the
same as a typical civil union, giving same-sex couples most of the rights
associated with marriage. Although the state government uses the term domestic
partnership to denote these new unions, the law in fact gives many more rights
than those given by the domestic partnerships of most other jurisdictions, and
so the New Jersey situation is more often related to civil unions.
In November 2004, the United Kingdom passed a law using the terminology civil
partnership, conferring the legal rights associated with marriage to registered
gay couples.
Civil Union in United States
Vermont
The controversial civil unions law enacted in Vermont in 2000 was passed as a
response to the Vermont Supreme Court ruling in Baker v. Vermont requiring that
the state grant same-sex couples the same rights and privileges accorded to
married couples under the law. There are still many people who are strongly
opposed to the idea of same-sex marriage, so the legislature came up with the
idea of civil unions as a compromise between groups seeking equal rights for
homosexuals, and groups objecting to gay marriage.
A Vermont civil union is nearly identical to a legal marriage, as far as the
rights and responsibilities for which state law, not federal law, is responsible
are concerned. It grants partners next-of-kin rights and other protections that
heterosexual married couples also receive. However, despite the "full faith and
credit" clause of the United States Constitution, civil unions are generally not
recognized outside of the state of Vermont in the absence of specific
legislation. Opponents of the law have supported the Defense of Marriage Act and
the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment in order to prevent obligatory
recognition of same-sex couple in other jurisdictions.
This means that many of
the advantages of marriage, which fall in the federal jurisdiction (joint
federal income tax returns, visas and work permits for the foreign partner of a
U.S. citizen, etc), are not extended to the partners of a Vermont civil union.
As far as voluntary recognition of the civil union in other jurisdictions is
concerned, New York City's Domestic Partnership Law, passed in 2002, recognizes
civil unions formalized in other jurisdictions. Germany's international civil
law (EGBGB) also accords to Vermont civil unions the same benefits and
responsibilities that apply in Vermont, as long as they do not exceed the
standard accorded by German law to a German civil union.
The civil union law is hailed by some as a fair compromise to the issues before
the legislature. Others are angry that the legislature did not go so far as to
legalize marriage between homosexual couples, and still others are angry that
the legislature granted homosexual couples something so similar to marriage. It
has been a politically charged issue within the state of Vermont, and throughout
the United States.
Civil unions can be dissolved in Vermont family court in exactly the same manner
as divorce of married couples: as of July 2002, four such unions had been so
dissolved. But while there is no residency requirement to contract a civil
union, there is a six month residency requirement to dissolve one. The attempt
of Glen Rosengarten to obtain, in his home state of Connecticut, a formal
dissolution of his Vermont civil union with Peter Downes, then a resident of New
York City, was rejected by the court of appeals on the basis of lack of
jurisdiction. Though New York City recognizes civil unions contracted in other
jurisdictions, it is not clear if dissolutions of civil unions would be
similarly recognized. This was the first case of a non-Vermont resident seeking
a dissolution of a civil union, and it seems reasonable to anticipate difficulty
in other such cases.
Many legal experts maintain that the Federal Marriage Amendment, in the version
supported by George W. Bush which failed to pass the U.S. Senate on July 14,
2004, would have outlawed civil unions everywhere in the U.S., even within
Vermont.
More on Marriage:
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