Blue Collar Blue State?

Next week in New Jersey, those of us who are *shhhh* gay *shhhh* will be able to get a Civil Union.  This follows the decision in Lewis v. Harris, in which the NJ Supreme Court declared that gay and lesbian couples must be granted the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual married couples under the language in the NJ State Constititution.  The court gave the legislature the option of amending the marriage language or creating an equivalent institution (separate but equal anyone?  Brown v. Board of Education?) and the legislature chose civil unions.

Politically, this probably made sense.  It’s easier to sell to those people who still think gays are icky, which even in NJ is still a large number.  But practically, it’s a) stupid and b) raises all sorts of questions and c) stupid.  These legal questions and implications are being hotly debated right now, but I’d like to focus on merely one - what the hell does a couple who gets a Civil Union call themselves?  People who are married call themselves married.  What will the rest of us be? Civil Unionized?  (See my earlier link to the Blue Jersey ads here.)

Yes, that’s right - we’re going to be Unionized.

Unionized.

I hereby call for the formation of the International Federation of Associated Gays (I-FAG).  I volunteer to head up the seminal (pun intended) chapter, the Local 69 - Pipe Layers here in Mount Laurel, NJ.  Homos unite!