In April, 2003, a New York trial court recognized civil union as equivalent to marriage for purposes of New York's Wrongful Death statute. In that case, two gay men obtained a civil union in Vermont and when one died in the hospital the other sued the hospital for medical malpractice.

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To be able to bring the suit under the Wrongful Death statute the plaintiff had to qualify as the decedent's surviving spouse. The hospital argued that the plaintiff was not a spouse because the couple was not married. The court held that the men should be considered "spouses" because that is what the civil union law says they are. It concluded, "Under principles of full faith and credit . . . New York will recognize a marriage sanctioned and contracted in a sister state and there appears to be no valid legal basis to distinguish one between a same-sex couple" (Langan v. St. Vincent's Hospital [2003]).

Reactions from the Gay and Lesbian Community

While courts wrestle with the meaning and scope of civil union, it is left to the lesbian and gay community to decide on a community response to the new institution. Some have criticized it, calling civil union "separate but unequal," a new Jim Crow. But many lesbian and gay couples have decided that, for now, civil union is an acceptable alternative to marriage.

Some, in fact, seem to prefer civil union to marriage. As one woman who had been married but now is joined in civil union with her lesbian lover told the New York Times, "I see marriage as very patriarchal and very much about property and ownership . . . but I see civil union as a completely level playing field; Theresa and I are equal partners and we are willingly doing this as equals."

As the lesbian and gay community continues to fight for the freedom to marry, the experience in Vermont with civil union stands as an important milestone. Civil union may serve as a bridge to marriage in the same way that in Europe it took a decade of experimentation with "registered partnership" before countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium were ready to open marriage to same-sex couples. In this case Vermont will have played a crucial role in the long struggle for true equality in marriage.

Since Vermont pioneered in introducing the civil union, three other states have also adopted them: Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. New Jersey's civil union was instituted in a manner similar to that in Vermont: the state supreme court found that gay and lesbian couples were treated unequally by not being able to marry but gave the legislature the option of creating civil unions in order to remedy the discrimination. The legislatures of Connecticut and New Hampshire adopted civil unions without a directive from the courts.

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New England's leading legal organization dedicated to equal justice for glbtq individuals and families, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) provides litigation, advocacy, and educational work in all areas of glbtq civil rights.