Originally Posted by scirocco33

The thing about gay marriage that concernes me is this:

If civil union truly provided all the same rights legally as marriage, would it still be important to have gay unions recognized as a marriage?

My belief is that the battle for the use of the word marriage has overshadowed the battle for domestic rights.

I do believe many people accept that same-sex couples should share the legal rights of traditional marriage.

Despite the legal connotation of the word marriage, marriage to a large portion of this country, is very much a matter of religion.

My gut reaction is the leaders in gay community may have won a battle, but they are losing the war on gaining domestic partner rights.

So which is more important...the word or the rights?