[lbo-talk] Q. What's wrong with civil unions? A. Because it's 1049 federal laws short of equality.

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>>If you want the legal protections and legal recognitions that 
>>married couples receive in terms of survivorship and right to make 
>>medical decisions, etc., then you might want to examine the 
>>language of how most proposed "civil union" bills are written. 
>>Those protections are not stated or promised.
>
>i believe Vermont's law does promise these things and that is the 
>sort of civil union law i am intrested in and wonder why anybody 
>would disparage.

Here's a short answer that explains why civil union is second-class 
marriage for second-class citizens.

Civil union grants fewer rights, benefits, and responsibilities than 
marriage does.

E.g.,

* [Q] If my partner and I enter into a civil union in Vermont, will 
the government recognize it for immigration purposes?

[A] No, a civil union conferred by the state of Vermont is not 
recognized by the federal government, which oversees immigration.

[Q] Can I marry my same-sex partner in the U.S. so I can change my 
status to legal permanent resident?

[A] No. A federal law, the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) 
passed in 1996, states that the federal government will not respect 
same-sex marriages. Therefore, even when states begin to end their 
discrimination and allow same-sex couples to marry, marrying a 
same-sex partner in the U.S. will not affect immigration status until 
DOMA is repealed or deemed unconstitutional by the courts.

<http://www.glad.org/Publications/CivilRightProject/Immigration_Issues.shtml>

* [Q] Will the Federal Government or Other States Recognize a Vermont 
Civil Union?

[A] The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) specifically states 
that the federal government will not recognize a same-sex 
relationship treated like a marriage. This means that, under the 
current law, parties to a civil union will not be able to qualify for 
any of the benefits and protections contained in the 1049 federal 
laws affecting the spousal relationship.

<http://www.vermontcivilunion.com/union/faq.html>

For a more detailed answer, you probably have to turn to civil rights 
and immigration lawyers and scholars.
-- 
Yoshie

* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/>
* Calendars of Events in Columbus: 
<http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, 
<http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/>
* Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
* Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
* Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>