On New Year’s Day, several same-sex couples in Hawaii and Delaware became the first few couples in their respective states to enter into civil unions.
Hawaii’s legislation was enacted at midnight on New Year’s Day, and four couples registered their relationships just a few seconds into year 2012. This makes Hawaii the seventh state in the country to allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions. Delaware followed suit and allowed same-sex civil unions at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
The Aloha state’s same-sex civil unions bill was signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in February and grants same-sex couples the same state rights and privileges as heterosexual couples. These same rights and privileges, however, do not apply at the federal level and do not have to be recognized by other states....