21.Isacivilunionthesamethingasamarriage？
Whileacivilunioncanprovideessentiallegalprotectionforgaysandlesbians，itisnotthesamethingasmarriage.Eventhoughacivilunionmightoffergayandlesbiancouplessimilarbenefits，marriagecarriesastatusasaninstitutionthroughoutworldhistorythataciviluniondoesnot.Toallowgaysandlesbianstoenterintocivilunionsordomesticpartnerships，whilerestrictingthemfrommarriageisnot“equal”inthesensethatthewordisusuallyusedunderthelaw.Somehavearguedthatrestrictinggaysandlesbianstocivilunionswouldstigmatizetheirrelationshipsaslessimportantthatheterosexualrelationships.ThisfactorwasimportanttotheMassachusettsSupremeCourtindeterminingthatabanongaymarriageviolatedtheequalprotectionclauseoftheMassachusettsConstitution.Inordertomaintainequality，itisimportantforbothheterosexualandhomosexualcouplestobeabletoenterintomarriages，civilunions，anddomesticpartnershipswithoutsexualorientation-basedrestrictions.
22.Dogayparentsmakegaychildren？
Exposuretohomosexualityatayoungagedoesnotmeanthatachildwillbecomegay.
Also，studieshaveshownthatthechildrenofsame-sexcouplesarenotmorelikelytoidentifyasgaylaterinlifethanchildrenofheterosexualcouples.Finally，despitesomeevidenceforgeneticcausesofhomosexuality，thereisnoevidencetosuggestthatthesexualorientationofbiologicalparentwillnecessarilybepasseddowntothechild.
23.Shouldgaysbeallowedtoadoptchildren？
Manypeopleallovertheworldbelievethathomosexualscanandshouldbeallowedtoadoptchildren.AllofthecountriesinEurope，Canada，andsomestatesintheUnitedStatespermithomosexualstoadoptchildren，andtherearemillionsofchildrenthroughouttheworldwhoarebeingraisedbygayparents.Placesthatdonotallowgaymenandwomentoadoptwilloftenallowthemtobecomefosterparentsortemporaryguardiansofchildrenbeforetheyareadoptedbyanotherfamily.