Why were civil unions created for same-sex couples?

Civil unions were created to provide same-sex couples with legal recognition and protections—such as rights of inheritance, hospital visitation, medical decision-making, and tax benefits—that were otherwise unavailable to them because marriage was legally restricted to heterosexual couples.12

For many, civil unions served as a compromise in the debate over same-sex marriage. Proponents of this approach argued that these legal arrangements could grant same-sex couples necessary benefits and protections without altering the traditional definition of marriage, which many viewed as a union exclusively between a man and a woman.2

In various jurisdictions, the establishment of civil unions or domestic partnerships was a response to legal challenges and court rulings that identified a lack of equal treatment under the law for same-sex partners. While these statuses conferred many of the rights and responsibilities of marriage, they were distinct from marriage in name and, in some cases, in the scope of legal recognition.314