This article, written by Kelly Kollman, Barbara Allen and Karen Wright, originally appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Minnesota and much of the rest of the country have spent a great deal of time over the past two years debating the merits and perceived dangers of extending relationship rights to same-sex couples. Given the level of scrutiny that this issue has garnered, it is surprising how little we have drawn on the considerable experience of other countries to inform our own debate.

Although the U.S. context is clearly distinct -- and obviously we must chart our own course in this matter -- there is much we can learn from developments in other countries. Based on our research on same-sex unions (SSUs) in Western democracies, we think there are some basic facts Americans should keep in mind, some of which may challenge common perceptions about SSUs and their effects.

Although many Americans were surprised when traditionally Catholic Spain opened marriage to gay and lesbian couples last year, the Spanish government was actually following a well-established legal trend in Western Europe. Spain is one of the three European countries, along with Belgium and the Netherlands, that have legalized marriage for gays and lesbians. Eleven other European countries have chosen to recognize same-sex unions through registered partnership, civil unions and/or domestic partnership laws: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Austria and Portugal. The only Western European countries without such laws in place are Greece, Italy and Ireland; the latter has a civil unions bill pending in its parliament. With the adoption of Canada's Civil Marriage Law last summer, the United States is now one of the few Western democracies that does not recognize relationship rights of gay and lesbian couples at the national level.

Initial proposals for SSU laws were contested in many of these countries. Public support for these laws, however, has increased in almost every country that has adopted them, in some countries dramatically so. In most countries practical experience with SSUs has broadened their acceptance.

Some opponents of SSU recognition in the United States have claimed that the adoption of these laws in Western Europe has caused marriage rates to decline in certain countries. There is little evidence to support this contention. European marriage rates have been declining since the 1960s, some 30 years before the introduction of the first SSU law in Denmark in 1989. There has been no overall acceleration of this trend since the introduction of these laws. In fact, Denmark has one of Europe's highest marriage rates, and this rate has increased significantly since the introduction of its registered partnership law. Although we believe any causal connection between SSU laws and marriage rates to be a dubious one, claims that these laws undermine heterosexual marriage are not supported by the evidence.

As in the United States, most SSU laws in Western Europe were preceded by local initiatives recognizing the rights of same-sex couples. In Canada, federal processes of local and regional debates and decisions proved essential for creating a legitimate national agreement supporting the opening of marriage to gay and lesbian relationships. About 90 percent of Canadians lived in jurisdictions that had independently granted marriage rights to same-sex couples by the time it was adopted as national law this past July.

The current U.S. trend toward cutting off future discussion of same-sex unions through constitutional amendments and "Defense of Marriage" (DOMA) laws, and rhetorically demonizing states that experiment with such recognition, is not helpful in creating a constructive national dialogue over this issue. Indeed, such "top-down" legislation is contrary to the spirit of American federalism.

Extending relationship rights to same-sex couples is an issue that most Western democracies have grappled with over the past two decades. Their experience indicates that the introduction of SSU laws has tended to lessen controversy over the issue, in part by demonstrating that heterosexual marriage was not harmed. This does not mean that the United States will naturally follow the same policy course as Europe or Canada. But it does suggest that the nature of the current debate in the United States is what is aberrant, and it is unlikely to lead to a legitimate settlement of the issue.

Kelly Kollman, Barbara Allen and Karen Wright are political scientists who have taught at Carleton College. They are working on a project examining the influence of federal processes on same-sex union laws in Canada, Europe and the United States.