Slog - Comments on A Majority of Americans Support Civil Unions http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un A new ABC News poll puts support for same-sex civil unions--marriage in everything but name--at 55%. That sound your hear is a stanky load sliding down Gary Bauer's trouser leg.... Copyright 2008 Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:33:12 -0800 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:48:37 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Big Sven Respectfully, this isn't news. ~55% +/- 5% have supported civil unions for a long time:

http://www.pollingreport.com/civil.htm

]]> Big Sven http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846408 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846408 Homo Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:09:50 -0800 Comment by Big Sven The fact-within-a-fact on general public opinion is that so many view marriage as different from civil union, and seek to withhold marriage rights from same sex couples.

]]> Big Sven http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846409 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846409 Homo Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:11:55 -0800 Comment by JMR I just cracked open the new issue of Reason that arrived in the mail, and who do I see on page 12 but Dan Savage! Talking surreptitious sex by public officials, of course.

Good to see you in such an august publication, Dan.

]]> JMR http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846414 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846414 Homo Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:25:45 -0800 Comment by Cat in Chicago I'm in favor of civil unions for opposite-sex couples. Uncle Sam can't "marry" anybody.

]]> Cat in Chicago http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846497 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846497 Homo Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:20:28 -0800 Comment by patrick How encouraging that 55% of the country believes I am eligible for equal protections and due process and full faith and credit.

How kind of them to think me a citizen worthy of constitutional rights.

I wonder if any of them will lift a fucking finger to make it happen, or if this will just be more ENDA-like incremental bullshit.

They have theirs - marriage and divorce and remarriage rights no matter what any religious organizations think of it - so eventually I can have mine if I can figure out how to make them give it to me.

What do you think I am - some kind of transgendered person? I have rights!! It's my turn!!

]]> patrick http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846507 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846507 Homo Sat, 10 Nov 2007 17:58:01 -0800 Comment by David Wright Word to Cat in Chicago.

]]> David Wright http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846542 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846542 Homo Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:55:31 -0800 Comment by patrick "I wonder if any of them will lift a fucking finger to make it happen..."

I guess David and Cat answered my question. It doesn't matter that they can get married or not and disdain the idea of it in between divorces...they can have ideological purity and still maintain a worldly hipness by looking the other way.

In other words: ENDA.

Just like, "who put the T in LGBT? you can say, "why would gays want to be married anyway? you have it better just the way you are."

followed by the sound of hands being washed...

]]> patrick http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846559 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846559 Homo Sun, 11 Nov 2007 10:29:33 -0800 Comment by Anna Actually, civil unions aren't exactly the same as a marriage. In a marriage, you get federal and state benefits. In a civil union, you'd only get state benefits. But you've got to start somewhere, right?

]]> Anna http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846577 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846577 Homo Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:48:45 -0800 Comment by patrick "But you've got to start somewhere, right?"

Where did you start?

Were Civil Unions the path followed by different sex couples until marriage was created, or is that path reserved for the class of people that have to prove themselves first?

Kinda like ENDA...LGB people have to start with employment protections until T persons have suffered enough.

nice.

]]> patrick http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846585 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846585 Homo Sun, 11 Nov 2007 13:52:09 -0800 Comment by Anna "Where did you start?"
All I meant was that having some rights is better than having no rights at all. It's a step in the right direction. I never said it was fair, or that same-sex couples should be grateful that some states legalize civil unions, and settle for just that. If you settle for civil unions, then you'll never be allowed to legally marry.
It used to be that women weren't allowed to work outside the home because they "weren't smart enough". Eventually, they were allowed to get jobs, but they weren't allowed equal pay, and they were only allowed to work in certain fields. But at least it was better than before. However, those women didn't settle for just that. They kept fighting for more rights, and now women can work wherever they want, and they get paid just as much as a guy would in that position. "Starting somewhere" doesn't mean you stop there and wait for other people to change things. It just means that progress is being made.

]]> Anna http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846624 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846624 Homo Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:52:10 -0800 Comment by Greg Disappointing as civil unions are, it is a less inequitable system than what we have now.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846673 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846673 Homo Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:25:17 -0800 Comment by Ron People like Patrick come back in the next life as fly-covered starving Somali children.

]]> Ron http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846776 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/a_majority_of_americans_support_civil_un#c846776 Homo Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:48:37 -0800