Unionized?

As you may have read, the State Judiciary Committee here in Connecticut has approved legislation to allow civil unions. This controversial topic will now go to the Senate or the House or the Hood… to get voted on again and again and finally end up in the lap of our new and improved, non-cheatin’ governor Jodi Rell, while all we gay folk wait with bated breath to be allowed to share in a small percentage of rights enjoyed by heterosexuals… well as long as we stay in Connecticut that is.

The GLBT activists here (Love Makes a Family specifically) are not all that enthused as they feel civil unions makes gays “separate and unequal”.

But in all this political rhetoric, I beg to say we are missing a very important point.
Quite simply it boils down to conjugation…the schematic arrangement of the inflectional forms of a verb… basically what the HELL am I going to say?

Ok – you’re at a party, you’re a heterosexual, you have a stunning example of the opposite sex on your arm, you are wearing a ring on ‘the’ finger. What might you hear…”Say there Pat, when did you get married?”

Now… you’re me. I am at a party, I am a homosexual, I have my stunning wife on my arm and am wearing a ring on ‘the’ finger. Say there Weese, when did you get…..aahh
…get…. um… civil unioned?... uuh unionized?…no no..that’s Hoffa… um… civilized? Ah, when did you crazy kids go to town hall and sign those papers to give you rights to visit each other in the hosptial...well in the state, and get health insurance..well also in the state - but really congratulations.“

C’mon people… a little help here. How can I explain in a word to the world that I have willfully, joyously, romantically with all of my heart and mind, for the rest of my life …signed some papers and entered into a civil union.
If for no other reason than the adjective – it think we should fight for FULL marriage rights, and on a federal level--so I don’t have to make up other words when I travel out of state.