Vermont unions drop as gays get other options

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont is no longer the mecca for homosexual couples, and its civil unions are plummeting in popularity.

In the final six months of 2000, when Vermont was the only state in the nation giving homosexual partnerships any legal status, 1,709 couples were joined in civil unions.

But their popularity has waned every year since and has plummeted since Massachusetts began performing homosexual “marriages” a year ago and several Canadian provinces did the same.

For all 12 months of 2004, 711 couples obtained civil unions “and we won’t even come close to that this year,” said Rich McCoy, chief of public health statistics at the state Health Department.

Civil unions have been most popular with out-of-state couples. Of the 7,549 couples who have had civil-union ceremonies since July 1, 2000, only 1,137 have been Vermonters. Slightly more than two-thirds of the couples have been women, Mr. McCoy said.

“I would say the primary reason is same-sex marriage in Massachusetts,” Mr. McCoy said. “Many, many of our civil unions in the first couple of years were to couples in Massachusetts. Also … the numbers we had coming from Canada dropped off. Now Connecticut has its own civil-union law. We did get couples from Connecticut.”

Elsewhere, California couples can register with the state and qualify for all the benefits of marriage except for the right to file taxes jointly.

Pro-homosexual activists in Vermont, who observed Friday’s fifth anniversary of the Vermont law, say the civil unions are not enough and they plan to renew their push for full homosexual “marriage” rights.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a compromise. I would still like full marriage benefits, but it’s better than what we had,” said Lois Farnham, one of those who took advantage of the Vermont unions law on July 1, 2000.

“We knew from the outset it wouldn’t get us where we need to go, which is full inclusion and equality for gay families,” said Beth Robinson, the lead lawyer in the suit that led to civil unions. “I think we’ve got plenty of work ahead of us.”

The Rev. Craig Bensen, who helped lead an opposition effort five years ago, said opponents would organize against any initiative for “marriage.”

“The legislative psychology, based on what I’ve been observing, is that neither side and certainly not the middle sees any great desire on anybody’s part to reopen the debate, just because of the huge amount of fallout that came with it the first time around,” Mr. Bensen said. “I think it would get very hot again.”