Recently, a federal judge granted a request to force the state of Indiana to recognize the marriage of a lesbian couple. As one of the women had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, their newly recognized marriage would mean that the couple can now receive legal rights and privileges normally allowed “traditional” marriages under federal state law.

This case speaks volumes to the issue of marriage inequality. For most of the LGBT community, it is not just about attaining the label of marriage. It is also about attaining the rights privileges that come with that label.

Usually, stories like this don’t end as well as they did in Indiana. Across the U.S., states have failed or outright denied to recognize the marriage right of LGBT couples, such as visiting a terminally-ill partner in the hospital. To deny visitation rights to the same-sex partner of a patient in the last moments of his or her life is to commit one of the saddest acts of injustice, and it is an act LGBT couple frequently face in states that do not recognize marriage equality.

Opponents of marriage equality argue gay marriage compromises “tradition.” So-called “tradition,” however, should not trump the rights entitled to all U.S. citizens. Therefore, civil unions are not enough.

We learned during the Civil Rights Movement that separate doesn’t mean equal. Until LGBT marriages receive full equality under the law, the fight for these protections must continue.

This issue is a highly emotional issue for the LGBT community, and it is about so much more than recognition. LGBT people are still treated as second-class citizens. Marriage equality is but a step toward complete legal and social equality with people in “traditional” marriages.

Most people in this world don’t have to think about what it would be like to be separated from your partner as they suffer in a hospital room. For many, though, this is the reality.

Granted, we are making great strides toward LGBT rights in this nation, but situations like the one in Indiana show that there is still a lot of ground to cover.

dhaynie@mavs.coloradomesa.edu