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State Civil Unions

What states allow civil unions?

As an alternative to marriage, many states offer civil unions, a legal agreement between two people of the same-sex. The concept is patterned after civil unions in Denmark, the first nation to legalize the civil union agreement in 1989. Here is a list of which states permit civil unions:

Currently, seven states offer civil unions (sometimes called “domestic partnerships”) that afford a same-sex couple nearly all the state-recognized rights as married couples, as long as the couples remain in the state that legalized the civil union. These states (and the year they enacted the legislation) are Vermont (2000), California (2000), Connecticut** (2005), New Jersey (2007), New Hampshire (2008), Oregon (2008) and District of Columbia (began 1998; amended 2008).
Five other states also offer civil unions to its same-sex residents, but with limited access to state-recognized marital rights: Hawaii (1997), Maine (2004), New Jersey*** (2004), Washington (2007) and Maryland (2008).

*The first couple to receive legal status as a same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2004, lesbians, Hillary and Julie Goodridge, filed for divorce in February 2009.
**Connecticut went on to legalize same-sex marriage in 2008, so civil unions are a moot issue in that state.
***Interestingly, New Jersey’s civil unions are only available to residents 62 years of age or older.

Civil union legislation is championed by gay and lesbian organizations as well as the American Civil Liberties Union.

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