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No, civil unions should be scrapped and full marriage offered to same sex couples. A few points I considered in my answer to the debate.

Children: Children are often cited as a reason why same sex couples should not be able to marry, as if they are allowed to marry then the next step is surely the right to raise a child. I don't believe anyone should be denied the right to parenthood (except in exceptional circumstances such as a history of abuse towards children).

Different sex marriages do not have a requirement about future children. Many couples do not even have children, some couples have 15 children, some separate, divorce or are widowed after having children. All these things happen and in many cases the children are raised by only one parent, perfectly successfully (as hard as it is to do, fair play to all mothers and fathers that do this everyday). Therefore why is it a problem for two people to raise a child, even if they are both of the same sex?

A single parent family does not have the so called 'balance' of two sexes and quite often a grandmother, aunt or another single mother and equally grandfather, uncle or other single father may be instrumental in raising a child in a single parent family, hence here two people of the same sex effectively raise the child or children. The saying "it takes a village to raise a child" springs to mind.

Civil union and marriage as a label: The actual terms to me immediately indicate separation between different sex marriage and same sex marriage. Yes there is a difference in the sexes contained within the marriage, but do we really have to make a point of labeling the difference and if we are, then why are there not different labels for female-female civil union and male-male civil union?

Civil union and marriage as separate legal entitlements: The restriction of civil unions for me brings the lack of acceptance of the actual union clearly into view. Why should a civil union give the couple any less legal rights than a marriage.

A couple living together as a 'married couple' have the same health concerns, the same concerns about being separated through work (for instance being separated by military posting), the same financial concerns that a married couple do. There is no legal difference in my mind between the needs of a same sex couple and that of a different sex couple.

Marriage provides not only a declaration of love, it provides joint pension entitlements, inheritance stability, recognition of your spouse in work and other legal situations, e.g. next of kin in the case of emergencies and hard medical decisions. Why should same sex couples be denied these legal rights?

Learn more about this author, Angela Coylo.
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