How to Use civil union in a Sentence

civil union

noun
  • The pope's civil union remarks have raised both hopes and doubts for gay Catholics.
    NBC News, 23 Oct. 2020
  • In 2012, a man and two women in Sao Paulo state became Brazil’s first three-person civil union.
    Dan Gartland, SI.com, 24 May 2018
  • After the anecdote ends, the film cuts to Francis' civil union comments in the Televisa interview.
    Nicole Winfield, Anchorage Daily News, 23 Oct. 2020
  • Brazil, like many countries, outlaws bigamy and polygamy but civil unions between more than two people are not unheard of there.
    Dan Gartland, SI.com, 24 May 2018
  • Religion was the reason my mother chose not to come to our 2001 civil union ceremony in Vermont.
    Amber Leventry, Longreads, 29 June 2018
  • Latvia could take a similar step in the next days or weeks, with its civil union bill only a vote away from being approved, providing the president doesn’t veto it.
    Enrique Anarte Lazo, NBC News, 7 June 2022
  • Previously, as Eddy explains in the Times, a person in a civil union was only allowed to adopt the biological child of his or her partner.
    Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 3 Oct. 2017
  • That decree, signed by Francis, came even after he had been quoted in a documentary as advocating for civil union laws.
    Chico Harlan, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Joint filing status is not available to couples in civil unions or domestic partnerships.
    cleveland, 22 Mar. 2020
  • But some Israelis bypass the restrictions by holding ceremonies of their choice and formalizing their civil union with lawyers, or by marrying abroad.
    Isabel Kershner, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2017
  • While the country recognizes civil unions between gay and lesbian couples, entitling them to pension and inheritance rights, adoption of children is still not legal.
    Helena Bachmann, USA TODAY, 8 Feb. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'civil union.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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