Slate has an interesting piece this week about Illinois’s new law on civil unions, enacted six months ago. Although Illinois designed civil unions principally to give same-sex couples the benefits of marriage without the name, the law also makes civil unions available to opposite-sex couples. And, in fact, about 7.5% of civil-union licences have gone to opposite-sex couples — though the total number of civil-union licenses itself is very small, only about 2000. Slate interviews some of the opposite-sex civilly-united couples and finds their reasons for selecting civil unions mostly have to do with objections to the traditionalism of marriage, including its religious connotations, and solidarity with gays and lesbians. Slate thinks the interest opposite-sex couples have shown in civil unions may further the deconstruction of marriage in America. Given how low the numbers are, I’m not sure. Anyway, worth reading. (H/T: Mirror of Justice).