A new state civil unions law has failed to ensure that same-sex couples in New Jersey enjoy the same rights as married heterosexuals, an official report said on Tuesday. More... (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080219/pl_nm/newjersey_gays_dc;_ylt=AoiVc5gbHH8S0SxKbKswWIAa.3QA)
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/NEWS01/802200387/1006 (http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/NEWS01/802200387/1006)
By MICHAEL RISPOLI • Gannett State Bureau • February 20, 2008
Same-sex civil unions have been a "failed experiment" in New Jersey and create "a second-class status" for civil union couples, a state review commission reported Tuesday.
One year after a law took effect allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, the Civil Union Review Commission unanimously endorsed a report, which found numerous employers fail to offer couples in civil unions the same benefits as married couples and that a lack of knowledge about such unions creates a second-class status and adverse effects on minorities, military personnel and transgender people.
Which brings back the old debate where some people say, "Why do we have to call it 'marriage?' Can't we call it 'civil unions' and give it the same rights as marriage?" Well, it doesn't work that way. The only thing that has all the rights of marriage is marriage.