CIVIL UNIONS:: Two more states allow same-sex civil unions – CNN
By MB Snow at January 2, 2012 | 12:00 am | Print
(CNN) — Several same-sex couples came together in the first minutes of New Year’s Day in Honolulu to become the first in the state’s history to enter into civil unions.
“We really don’t want to wait any longer because we have been together for 33 years waiting for the opportunity and our rights and everything that goes with it,” said Donna Gedge, who was with her partner Monica Montgomery, speaking to CNN affiliate KITV. “So why wait?”
The couple told CNN last week about their plans to stay up late for the ceremony.
With Hawaii and Delaware joining the list Sunday, five states now recognize same-sex civil unions, while six other states and Washington, D.C., allow same-sex marriage, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island already recognize civil unions providing state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples, the NCSL says.
Marriage licenses are given to same-sex couples in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and the District of Columbia, the NCSL says.
California does not currently allow same-sex marriages to be performed.
In May 2008, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in California. Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, passed later that year.
In 2010, a federal district judge ruled that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution, but enforcement of that decision was stayed pending appeal.
Delaware said its new law became effective at 10 a.m. Sunday.
In Hawaii, online application for civil union licenses was made available beginning at midnight, despite the fact that government offices are closed until Tuesday, the state government said.
The union becomes valid after a ceremony performed by someone licensed by the Department of Health.
via Two more states allow same-sex civil unions – CNN.com.