State should approve civil unions proposal

Monday, March 26, 2007

The bill, introduced by Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, was approved 5-4 Wednesday by the House Human Services Committee. Harris will spend the coming weeks talking to House colleagues about the bill - and their concerns - and plans to call it to a vote in the current session.

Opponents say the bill simply would be the legalization of gay marriage under another name. The bill would grant to gay couples many of the same benefits enjoyed by married people: participating in health-care decisions for the partner, rights in determining the welfare of non-adopted children, division of property upon dissolution of the union and decisions regarding the remains of a deceased partner.

Civil unions, however, are recognized only on a state level. While the rights of a married couple are recognized across political and cultural boundaries, the rights granted a couple bound in a civil union apply only in the granting state. To date only three other states recognize civil unions: Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut. California allows same-sex domestic partnerships and Massachusetts allows gay marriage. Because the federal government does not recognize civil unions, people involved in them cannot file joint tax returns.

According to Lambda Legal Defense, some 1,400 legal rights are conferred upon married couples in the United States. Not all of those rights would be granted under civil unions. Undoubtedly some gay and lesbian advocates would say that's not enough, then.

That, of course, is the problem opponents of the bill would say. But civil unions pose no threat to the sanctity of the religious institution of marriage. Civil unions simply grant legal rights to same-sex couples, and in the Illinois proposal, heterosexual couples, too. It is a matter of a legal social contract, not a religious one.

And it appears to be gaining support. A 2006 Pew Forum poll shows Americans oppose gay marriage 56 percent to 35 percent. But the general public supports civil unions 54 percent to 42 percent, according to the poll.

Meanwhile, marriage is on the decline. The Census Bureau indicates the percentage of U.S. households that contained a married couple has dropped from 84 percent in 1930 to 56 percent in 1990 to 49.7 percent in 2005.

A 1999 study by the Barna Research Group found that 11 percent of the adult population was divorced and 25 percent of adults had at least one divorce in their lifetime. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the current divorce rate is 4.95 per 1,000; the marriage rate is 9.8.

Favoring civil unions doesn't mean opposition to marriage. Society, however, is changing. Civil unions will help bridge the gaps in legal rights during this social evolution. Empowering committed, loving couples, regardless of sexual orientation, to make a legal contract is a step in the right direction. - Robert Buck, local news editor