^I would respectfully argue that that is not the main problem with civil unions if it is the only option for gay couples. The main problem is that it's just not the same as marriage. Even if civil unions and marriages consisted of exactly the same rights and responsibilities, they still wouldn't be equal. It's really a silly argument to say, "Well why don't you just take this? It's the same in effect but we're going to reserve these specific words for only a certain number of people. Why isn't that good enough for you?"