Adoption News - 12 - A Civil Debate Over Civil Union

[ Gay Couples sue over Okla. Adoption Law ] [ Children's Groups appeal overturning of Florida Gay Adoption Ban ]

[ Britain Parliament Oks Gay Adoption ] [ Lesbian Couple from VT Prevail in Adoption Suit ] [ Out of the Shadows ]

[ ACLU Dismayed by 11th Circuit Appeal Upholding Floridas Anti-Gay Adoption Law ] [ US Adoptions Get Easier ]

[ Supreme Court Lets Stand Floridas Gay Adoption Ban ] [ Experts Dispute Bush on Gay Adoption Issue ]

[ Adoptees Deserve Access to Family Health Histories ] [ Committee Defeats Bill to Ban Gays from Adoption ]

[ Civil Debate Over Civil Union ] [ Study Says Foreign Children Adapt Well ] [ Custody After Civil Union Pits States and Judges ]

[ Birth Mothers vs Egg Donor Decision Upheld ] [ Hello I'm Your Sister - Our Father is Donor 150 ]

[ Lund Family Center Capital Campaign Remarks ] [ Unwed Fathers Fight for Babies Placed for Adoption by Mothers ]

[ Adoption Institute Supports Gay Parents ] [ Gays See Shift in Momentum Toward Acceptance in Alabama ]

[ Judge Rejects Law on Gay Adoptions ] [ Perdue vs Mississippi ] [ Gay Marriage Losing Punch as Ballot Issue ]

[ Gay Couple Awaits Adoption Ruling from US Court ] [ China Tightens Adoption Rules, U.S. Agencies Say ]

[ A Taste of US Family Life, But Adoption in Limbo ] [ Gay Couple Win Lawsuit Against Adoption Web Site in Arizona... ]

[ Significant Victory for Same Sex Couples in Oklahoma ] [ Report Urges States To Open Adoptee Records for Adults ]

[ State Court Recognizes Gay Marriage From Elsewhere ] [ Miami Judge Rules Against Florida Gay Adoption Ban ]

[ House Passes Bill Restricting Birth Certificates For Adoptions By Unmarried Couples ]

One of the amazing things about Connecticut's approval of a law guaranteeing the rights of gay couples was the almost placid way the political process worked. This is a pioneering law - the first enacting civil union voluntarily, without court pressure - yet it was adopted with a minimum of political fireworks. There are healthy lessons in this for the rest of the nation as this vital human right progresses.

Connecticut's legislators were obviously influenced by shifting public opinion in favor of taking the historic step, but even more by the gatherings across the state where gay couples invited politicians and neighbors into their homes to experience their domestic lives firsthand. This grass-roots lobbying by gay and lesbian couples proved that their humanity was not to be denied, even if the word "marriage" was denied to them as the final compromise was passed by large, bipartisan margins and was enthusiastically signed by Gov. Jodi Rell, a Republican.

The law firmly extends to gay couples the same rights and protections guaranteed to married heterosexuals, including tax and insurance benefits, family leave, hospital visits and more. Its passage was undoubtedly eased by an amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. But there's cause for optimism that this obstacle may be removed, considering the state's progressive path since the day, 40 years ago, when the courts finally struck down a puritanical law that criminalized birth control.

In the past 15 years, Connecticut has protected gays and lesbians under hate-crime, employment and housing laws, and allowed unmarried couples to raise adopted children. Just as civil union was the next logical step, so may the term marriage be finally extended someday.

Other states are heading in a different direction. Fourteen have banned gay marriage in the last year, with Kansas going further and outlawing civil union. But Connecticut's new law and the bolstering of gay unions in Vermont, Massachusetts and California provide a response to the tendency of civil libertarians to presume that lawmaking is transitory and less reliable than a court decision. Critical as the courts are, there's nothing more stirring than the sight of a legislature, representing the will of the people, passing laws to protect the rights of a vulnerable minority group.