Left at the Altar: Differentiating the Benefits of Marriage, Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships

• Published in: Diversity Factor (Online) Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 5
• Main Author: Suffredini, Kara S
• Format: Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Diversity Factor 01.01.2005
• Subjects: Adoption; Civil law; Civil unions; Couples; Divorce; Domestic partners; Equal rights; Families & family life; Gays & lesbians; Inheritances; Parents & parenting; Personal relationships; Religion; Same sex marriage; Social conditions & trends; Social security; State court decisions; State laws; Workers compensation; United States > US
• ISSN: 1545-2808

Throughout the US, families headed by same-sex couples daily experience the consequences, in large and small ways, of being denied access to civil marriage. Mainstream debate about the legalization of marriage for same-sex couples often blurs the critical distinction between civil marriage and religious marriage. Religious marriage is regulated by faith traditions, with complete autonomy to determine what marriages they will perform or recognize, independent of what marriages civil law recognizes. Civil marriage is a legal status that automatically confers 1,138 federal rights and benefits and hundreds of additional state rights and benefits. Historically, civil marriages performed in any state have been honored by both the federal government and other states. However, the federal Defense of Marriage Act, enacted in 1996, defines civil marriage for purposes of federal law as the union of one man and one woman. Some state and local governments, as well as many private entities, extend limited relationship recognition in the form of civil unions or domestic partnerships.