Couples Are Warned of Caveat on ‘Civil Unions’

With Vermont moving closer to something resembling gay marriage, same-sex couples who might be thinking about visiting the state so that they can enter into “civil unions” were warned Friday that they are likely to be disappointed.

For one thing, there is no clear answer as to whether the new status would be recognized by any other state.

“If they want to come here and stay here, they can” take advantage of the civil union law, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Thomas Little said. “If people want to fly in for the weekend and get a civil union license and fly home, it’s unlikely they’re going to have their home state give it any legal recognition.”

Under a bill adopted by the House on Thursday and sent to the Senate, gay couples would be granted all the rights and responsibilities available under state law to married couples. Gay couples who enter into civil unions and later decide to break up would have to go through divorce-like proceedings.

“This is a legal structure parallel to marriage, but it’s not gay marriage,” said Rep. William Lippert, the only openly gay member of the state Legislature and a key architect of the bill.

“I think it can be a model for other states for how to grant rights to gay and lesbian couples without having to step into the emotionally charged arena of gay marriage.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Friday to pursue the same course as the House.

Committee Chairman Richard Sears said the vote was an important statement to his own constituents and to opponents of gay marriage.

“I hope that it tells them that whatever we’re working on will be a domestic partnership bill, but marriage won’t happen in the state of Vermont,” Sears said.

Under the bill, same-sex couples would qualify for more than 300 rights and benefits that flow from marriage under Vermont law, including inheritance, property transfers, medical decisions, insurance and taxes. Couples could file a joint state income tax return, for example.

However, they would not be recognized as couples under federal law, meaning they would not receive the rights available to married couples with respect to immigration rights, Social Security and federal taxes.

There are no comparable civil union laws on the books anywhere else.

“Gay and lesbian couples in other parts of the country should not misunderstand that this is Vermont having gay marriage,” Lippert said.

Although national gay rights groups cheered the advance in the cause of gay rights represented by the Vermont House vote, they were disappointed the state did not legalize marriage for same-sex couples.

“It’s the first time that the relationships have been recognized at this level,” said David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group. “However, it’s important to understand it’s a separate system and you’re creating a separate set of laws for gay people, which is inherently unequal.”