BOSTON -- Civil unions are not civil marriages, and that's exactly what gay and lesbian advocates are seeking to change through proposed civil-marriage laws.

Advocacy groups, such as Gay and Lesbian Advocate Defenders (GLAD) and Your Family Friends and Neighbors (YFFN), are fighting for the 1,049 additional rights gay and lesbian couples would receive if civil marriages were made legal in the United States, GLAD says.

On July 1, 2000, Vermont's Civil Union law went into effect, giving gay and lesbian couples full and equal protection under Vermont marriage laws. Civil-union laws provide protection on the state level but fail to grant any federal protection, citing the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal government from recognizing civil unions.

In additional to facing no federal protection, civil-union couples are unable to profit from basic marital benefits. Unionized couples are unable to make medical decisions on a partner's behalf, take sick leave to care for or mourn for a partner, have their partner covered under their health or unemployment benefits, choose a partner's final resting place, file joint tax returns, insurance policies, or rent property together, YFFN says.

Additionally, any protections gay and lesbian couples may receive under civil-union laws are only applicable in states that recognize civil unions.

If a unionized couple wants to dissolve their union, the couple must move to a state where civil unions are recognized, stay long enough to declare residency and then file for divorce under that state's law. Currently Vermont, Hawaii and California are the only states to recognize civil unions.

Such system injustices have led advocates to argue that it's civil marriages, not civil unions, that are the only way to ensure gay and lesbian couples receive the same legal protections as straight married couples, GLAD officials say.

Civil marriages are currently illegal in all 50 states, but Massachusetts, New Jersey, Arizona and Indiana all have civil-marriage lawsuits pending.

The legalization of civil marriages would allow gay and lesbian couples to receive federal protection and receive all rights heterosexual couples receive. Couples would be able to receive Social Security benefits, sponsor a spouse for immigration purposes, and would benefit from other financial advantages that come with being married.

Same-sex couples can marry in Canada and British Columbia, but their marital rights are not recognized in the United States.

The Massachusetts civil marriage case, Goodridge et al. v. Department of Public Health, filed in 2002, has had oral arguments before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and a verdict is expected in the coming months.