Today, many gays and lesbians come out of the closet and demand the same rights that heterosexuals take for granted. There is an on going debate on whether gay and lesbian couples should receive the same legal benefits as heterosexual married couples. It has been a controversial subject for decades now, yet still a solution has not been achieved. Given the importance of the issue it has been one of the leading issues in the 2004 election. There is much support from different sides of the spectrum. There are enormous potential consequences that can be either positive or negative, for children, parents, same-sex couples, families, and societal. Aside from societal and religious conventions, I feel same sex couples should be entitled to the same benefits whether it's through the legalization of marriage, without marriage or civil unions.
             The proposed legalization of same sex marriage is one of the most significant issues in contemporary American family law. When Vermont became the first state in the United States to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples, it marked an important milestone in lesbian and gay Americans' struggle for equal rights. In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples must be allowed access to the same benefits and protections that are currently available to heterosexual couples through marriage. The legislature carried out this decision by creating civil unions to allow same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities of marriage under state law, but without allowing access to marriage itself (Patterson, 2004). Even with the administration of civil unions, couples are not still entitled to the same benefits as heterosexual married couples. Couples only receive statewide benefits for income tax, inheritance, family medical leave, and so forth, which is not nearly the same as receiving these benefits on the federal level (Balsam, Rothblum & Solomon, 2004). Many feel civil unions are not enough b...