(Montpelier, Vermont) Same-sex marriage advocates in Vermont say a report by a New Jersey state commission that found that civil unions do not provide the benefits of marriage could help Vermont lawmakers support a gay marriage bill.

Vermont was the first state to recognize same-sex relationships – legalizing civil unions in 2000. Since then, same-sex couples in the state have maintained that civil unions are not recognized in the same way as marriage and a bill to convert civil unions to marriage will be introduced in the next session of the state legislature.

When New Jersey lawmakers opted to legalize civil unions rather than marriage in 2007, the legislature created a commission to review whether the law was working.

Two weeks ago, the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission released its report saying civil unions were not working and the law needed to be amended to provide for full marriage for same-sex couples.

The report said that civil unions fostered inequity by creating a separate class of relationships, noting that some private companies refused to provide health and other benefits to same-sex civil unioned partners that they provided to married spouses.

Vermont gays say they have been complaining about the same issues for the past eight years and that a Vermont commission also found inequities in the civil union law.

Beth Robinson of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force urged lawmakers to examine the New jersey report. And she urged Gov. Jim Douglas to support a bill that would allow same-sex couples in the state to marry.

Vermont Senate Majority Leader John Campbell said earlier this month that he would file the bill, to amend the state’s civil union law to provide for full marriage, in the new session of the legislature.

Douglas has said he is opposed to the measure.

Last year, an 11-member commission was set up by the leaders of the Vermont House and Senate, both Democrats, to look into Vermont’s civil unions law to see if it is providing equality for gay and lesbian couples.

It submitted its report to the legislature in April, but made no recommendations on revising the law to allow for same-sex marriage.

The Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection detailed months of hearings it held throughout the state, where same-sex couples complained they were still discriminated against because employers, hospitals and insurance companies do not see their relationships as the equivalent of marriage.

The commission was chaired by former state Rep. Tom Little (R). Little was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when it passed the law legalizing civil unions in 2000.

Little said the commission purposely decided not to include recommendations in the report. “That’s a decision for Vermont’s elected officials,” Little said at the time.

A public opinion survey earlier this year found that the majority of people in the state believe gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry.

Last month, the Boston-based group that won equal marriage rights in Massachusetts and Connecticut announced an ambitious plan to fight for equal marriage throughout New England and predicted success in the four additional states by 2012.