The biggest difference is that marriage has been a recognized legal institution for hundreds of years in the United States (and around the world), while civil unions are a relatively recent phenomenon. Civil unions provide for benefits in the state that recognizes such unions, but those benefits may not be recognized elsewhere. Perhaps the primary difference is that many advocating for equal treatment for gays and lesbians assert that civil unions accord a second class legal status than marriage. For example, the group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) writes that marriages 276 are far more likely to be respected by others than newly minted civil unions.

• What are civil unions?
• What states still recognize common law marriages?
• Can cousins legally marry?
• What does the law say about limiting marriages between family members?
• Can parties who enter into a regular marriage change or convert that marriage into a covenant marriage?
• What states allow covenant marriages?
• What is a covenant marriage?
• Must you take a blood test before getting married?
• How much does a marriage license cost?
• What is a common law marriage?
• How can people be married?
• How is marriage defined by the law?
• What types of issues are covered by family law, or the law of domestic relations?
• Can your employer force you to take a polygraph test?
• What if you test positive for drugs, but you really believe that the test was wrong? Is there any recourse?
• Can your employer require you to take a drug test?
• How does the unemployment benefits process work?
• If you are fired from your job can you obtain unemployment benefits coverage?
• Must an employer do anything to accommodate employees who wish to breast feed their children?
• Must employers give employees time off for lunch and for rest periods?