States that allow civil unions are finding that few same-sex couples sign up.
Vermont, which introduced civil unions in 2000, granted more than 400 in the first month, but barely more than twice that number in the next six years. It's a similar story in New Jersey, where around 1,700 gay couples have domestic partnerships but only 649 have asked for civil unions in the three months since they were made legal. And Connecticut is showing just 372 applications this year.
“There are actually only a very small percentage of homosexual couples that desire that type of legal union, so once that demand is met, it drops off significantly," said Jenny Tyree, associate marriage analyst for Focus on the Family Action
Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, said he questions the argument that gay couples desperately need such legal benefits.
“This puts the lie to all of that," he said, "because if it really was such a hardship to live as a partnered couple without the benefits of marriage, then you would think they would all rush out to sign up as soon as those legal benefits were available to them.”
