[ConservativeDude]

of course not....just a funny observation. God bless Vermont on the 2nd Amendment.

But civil unions are not about freedom, but coercion, since the rest of us would be forced to recognize them, in one way or another. Then if you get into the marriage issue, we are forced to recognize them even more.....

[GovernmentShrinker]

Why should the government be involved in registering and "recognizing" any kind of marriages, "unions", or any other kind of intimate personal relationships? It hasn't been a factor in custody or child support for a long time. Mainly, it's used to impose higher taxes on married people. Let people enter into whatever kind of relationships they want to, with the sanction of the religious body of their choice if they so choose, or not if they don't, and with whatever written contractual terms they see fit to lay out. Nobody is forced to recognize anybody's relationships as valid, and nobody -- gay or straight -- should be forced to to subsidize government registration schemes for relationships they don't approve of and/or which exclude them.