A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights, benefits, and responsibilities similar (in some countries, identical) to opposite-sex civil marriage. In some jurisdictions, such as Brazil, New Zealand, Uruguay, France and the U.S. states of Hawaii and Illinois, civil unions are also open to opposite-sex couples.

Many countries with civil unions recognize foreign unions if those are essentially equivalent to their own; for example, the United Kingdom lists equivalent unions in Civil Partnership Act Schedule 20.

Supporters of civil unions contend that civil unions grant same-sex couples equal rights to married couples. Some commentators, such as Ian Ayres, are critical of civil unions because they say they represent a separate status unequal to marriage. According to an American history scholar Nancy Cott "there really is no comparison, because there is nothing that is like marriage except marriage." Others, such as Robert Knight, are critical because they say civil unions endow the same rights and privileges of heterosexual marriages — alleging that they allow same-sex marriage by using a different name.

Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa "Tana" Umaga, ONZM ( /ˈtɑːnə ˈuːmʌŋə/; Samoan: [ˈtana ˈuːmaŋa]; born 27 May 1973 in Lower Hutt) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. He played for the Hurricanes starting with the Super 12's inception in 1996 and took over the captaincy in 2003. Graham Henry named him as All Blacks captain in 2004; under his leadership the All Blacks won 19 of their 21 games including the clean sweep of the British and Irish Lions and the Grand Slam in 2005. At the end of 2005, after 74 Test caps (where he scored 36 tries), Umaga retired from international rugby. Umaga played four games in 2007 for the Wellington Lions in the Air New Zealand Cup, in order to play 100 matches for the province, before taking up the position of coach at Toulon.

His coaching future was uncertain in the 2008–09 season, as Toulon was a poor performer in the first half of the season and facing a relegation scare, and there was speculation that he would be replaced by Philippe Saint-André. Umaga returned to a playing role for Toulon in the second half of that season, and at the same time announced that he would not continue as head coach beyond that season. After helping Toulon exit relegation trouble (they ultimately finished ninth that season), he retired as a player, and remained at Toulon as assistant coach for backs under Saint-André. In March 2010, Umaga again returned to the playing ranks following a serious hip injury to Christian Loamanu. Umaga returned to New Zealand after the 2009–10 French season to become a player-coach with Counties Manukau and played with the Waikato Chiefs in the 2011 Super Rugby competition.

George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received three Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award. Clooney is also noted for his political activism, and has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since January 31, 2008.

Though he made his acting debut on television in 1978, Clooney gained fame and recognition by portraying Dr. Douglas "Doug" Ross on the long-running medical drama ER from 1994 to 1999. While working on ER, he started attracting a variety of leading roles in films including Batman & Robin (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), in which he first teamed with long-term collaborator Steven Soderbergh. 1999 saw the release of Three Kings, a well-received war satire set during the Gulf War featuring Clooney in another lead role. In 2001, Clooney's fame widened with the release of his biggest commercial success, Ocean's Eleven, the first of a profitable film trilogy, a remake of the film from 1960 with the members of The Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean. He made his directorial debut a year later with the 2002 biographical thriller Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and has since directed Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Leatherheads (2008), and The Ides of March (2011). He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the Middle East thriller Syriana (2005) and subsequently fetched Best Actor nominations for such films as Michael Clayton (2007), Up in the Air (2009) and The Descendants (2011).