Well if you count civil unions as marriage then they were passed by the legislature of Vermont after a court case wherein the court decided that excluding same-sex couples from obtaining the same benefits as heterosexual couples was against the state's constitution and suggested that the legislature take action. Just to be very clear the court did not enact civil unions, or force the legislature's hand, they merely recommended that the legislature take action, after heated debate the legislature did the right thing.Originally Posted by TuffStuffMcGruff
Of course civil unions aren't quite the same because though they do offer all of the benefits given by Vermont they are not federally recognized so no federal benefits are given to same-sex couples. I'm not entirely sure what those would be, but I imagine they would be federal tax breaks or something along those lines.
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