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Marriage is a religious and civil union, but a civil union is not a marriage. By providing civil unions for gays and lesbians, but not marriage, you are essentially saying that gays and lesbians are separate, but not equal. You open the door to legally sanctioned discrimination.

And there are, in fact, legal differences between marriage and civil unions.

Marriages are recognized in all fifty states as affording certain legal rights. Civil unions would not be.

In a marriage, a spouse may make decisions for a disabled or injured partner, while in a civil union, he or she may not necessarily make such decisions.

In a marriage, you can give your spouse a large gift (e.g., a car), without paying taxes. This is not true of a civil union.

In a marriage, you have an automatic right to inherit without a will and you do not pay inheritance taxes if you are a spouse. This is not true of a civil union.

You can file federal taxes jointly if you're married, you cannot do this in a civil union.

Married people receive benefits if a spouse dies, you do not if you're in a civil union.

If you abandon a child or spouse, you are subject to criminal penalties if you're married. Not so in a civil union.

The social implication of a marriage is used: people world-wide understand this is a symbol of love and commitment. People really don't understand what a civil union is even though for gays and lesbians, it's equally a sign of love and commitment.

So for all you people out there who consider that gays and lesbians should be content with civil unions, at least understand what the fight's about.

Learn more about this author, emily zola.
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