CT Not Inundated Over Civil Unions

Some may laud it as a step in the right direction, but not everyone is rushing to the clerk's office to get a civil union license:

The Levine-Rittermans plan to enter a civil union, once they find the time between shuttling Maya to horseback riding lessons and Joshua, 8, to tae kwon do.

But if the law allowed marriage, Barbara said, "We would have done it Oct. 1."

Since their 1992 commitment ceremony, the couple has secured as many legal protections for their union as possible. A civil union would extend those rights, though they still wouldn’t be able to file taxes together, or have their union recognized outside Connecticut. The federal government does not recognize civil unions.

"We’re going to go do it because we think we should have those legal rights," Robin said. "But it’s not very meaningful for us," Barbara said. "To be able to be married — that would have real emotional resonance. If Maya could say to her friends, ‘My mommies are married,’ they’d know exactly what she meant.(Civil union) just isn’t in the cultural vocabulary."

The Levine-Rittermans say gay couples they know have had mixed reactions to civil union legislation. Some got civil unions immediately and threw parties to celebrate. Others say they won’t, ever. "They feel it’s offensive," Barbara said. "Separate but unequal."