Civil Unions are the (arm)pits

Something stinks in America’s armpit, and it’s the distinctive, rotten funk of inequality. Although New Jersey’s highest court ruled last October that the state’s constitution requires “that every statutory right and benefit conferred to heterosexual couples through civil marriage must be made available to committed same-sex couples,” the ruling left it up to the state legislature to determine exactly how those rights and benefits would be made available. New Jersey rejected same-sex marriage in favor of what they deemed the less offensive alternative of civil unions for same-sex couples.

Civil unions, once hailed as a momentous step forward in Vermont, were just as quickly repudiated as inherently unequal by GLBT advocates in neighboring Massachusetts a few years later as part of their bitter struggle with conservatives who mounted a fierce campaign to challenge the 2003 Goodridge decision, which guaranteed marriage for same-sex couples.

It was perhaps because of the rancorous nature of the debate in Massachusetts that lawmakers in New Jersey chose what they felt was the safer route. As feared by many GLBT leaders, the resulting civil unions law has proven less than adequate, producing a whole host of problems ranging from confusion over inheritance and property rights to problems with health insurance coverage as it pertains to partners in a civil unions, who do not qualify as spouses under many policy guidelines. One woman was denied a mammogram by her HMO, who changed her designation to “male” after she added her female partner to her insurance. The company claimed the change in designation was necessary because their forms did not accommodate civil union spouses.

The New Jersey Lesbian & Gay Coalition has a special section on their website dedicated to this issue and while they encourage their constituency to send an email thank-you to Governor John Corzine, who signed the civil unions bill into law, they are very clear to remind lawmakers that their “priority is 100% marriage equality for all” and they “will not stop until full marriage equality is achieved.” As a result of complaints from same-sex couples who have found that their civil unions have not provided them with the equality promised them by the October ruling, GLBT advocates are considering a legal challenge to the civil unions law that would effectively petition the New Jersey Supreme Court to grant them same-sex marriage.

To learn more about the messy situation created by civil unions in New Jersey, click here.

To learn more about the New Hampshire’s civil unions bill, click here.