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Argument: Many opponents of gay marriage are tolerant of civil unions

Issue Report: Civil unions vs. gay marriage

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David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch. “A Reconciliation on Gay Marriage.” New York Times. February 21, 2009: “And while most Americans who favor keeping marriage as it has customarily been would prefer no legal recognition of same-sex unions at either the federal or the state level, we believe that they can live with federal civil unions — provided that no religious groups are forced to accept them as marriages. Many of these people may come to see civil unions as a compassionate compromise. For example, a PBS poll last fall found that 58 percent of white evangelicals under age 30 favor some form of legal same-sex union.” [This all suggests that civil unions will be met with greater respect from the general American population, instead of the kind of recrimination that can lead to hatred and descrimination.