In recent years, same-sex couples have made strides toward equal recognition of their families. Since San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on February 12, 2004, various other U.S. cities have done the same.

That being said, it will be a while before this conteroversialissue is settled. The California Supreme Court eventually voided all of the marriages performed in 2004. Court cases in Oregon did the same. But lawsuits in San Francisco and other places, challenging the restrictions on same-sex marriage, are making their way through the courts, meaning that this issue will not be solved any time soon.

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court decided that the state law banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts constitution and ordered the legislature to fix the discrimination within six months. In February 2004, the court ruled that offering civil unions instead of civil marriage was not good enough. As a result, same-sex couples in Massachusetts were able to enter into civil marriages.

In response to a supreme court mandate (Baker v. State, Vt. 1999), the Vermont legislature passed the Vermont Civil Union law, which went into effect on July 1, 2000. While this law does NOT legalize same-sex marriages, it does provide gay and lesbian couples with many of the same advantages.

These advantages, which apply only to couples living in Vermont, include:

- Rights under family laws such as annulment, divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, domestic violence, adoption, and property division.

- Rights to sue for wrongful death, loss of consortium, and under any other tort or law concerning spousal relationships.

- Medical rights such as hospital visitation, notification, and durable power of attorney  family leave benefits.

- Joint tax filing.

- Property inheritance when one partner dies without a will.

Hawaii enacted a Reciprocal Beneficiaries law, which provides some marriage-like benefits. Any two state residents can register as reciprocal beneficiaries, as long as they are over 18 and are not permitted to marry. Couples who sign up gain some of the rights and benefits granted by the state to married couples, including hospital visitation rights, the ability to sue for wrongful death, and property and inheritance rights.