Ted Olson & NY AG Eric Schneiderman Editorialize Against Civil Unions

[WillParkinson]

Ted Olson & NY AG Eric Schneiderman Editorialize Against Civil Unions

Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today published an op-ed piece in the New York Daily News explaining why civil unions are an unacceptable compromise in the marriage equality battle. Olson, as you doubtlessly know, was the co-lead attorney in the battle to overturn Prop 8. An excerpt from today's essay:

A civil union is not a marriage, nor is it an adequate substitute for one. To suggest otherwise is a cruel fiction. Even if all of the inherent confusion and complexities could be resolved and civil unions could somehow provide couples with the same rights and responsibilities of a true marriage, the separation of the two institutions creates a badge of inferiority that forever stigmatizes the relationships of committed same-sex couples as different, separate, unequal and less worthy. Time and time again, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that marriage is one of the most fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans under the Constitution. It's a right older than the Bill of Rights and older than our political parties. It is the foundation of society. The time to grant the right of marriage to all New Yorkers is now.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/05/16/2011-05-16_the_civil_union_baitandswitch_compromise_is_far_from_true_marriage_equality.html

[LiberalFighter]

1. If it is to be effectively fought...

Marriage as a religious element needs to be refuted. If it was truly religious in nature then it would have been a ceremony that was used in all male/female relationships from the very beginning. Instead, it wasn't supervised by the clergy until hundreds of years after the Catholic church began.

As an example, it wasn't until the 12th century that the English began getting married in church. This was especially true for the middle class. And it wasn't until the 18th century that they were required to by law.

[joeybee12]

2. Civil unions say, separate but equal is ok...and the SCOTUS decided over 50

years ago that it isn't.