At least 219 gay couples applied to join in civil unions during the first month they were available in New Jersey, according to a report by the state Health and Senior Services Department released Tuesday. The number was far smaller than activists had expected. By comparison, about 500 gay and lesbian couples in New Jersey registered on the first day the state’s domestic partnership law went into effect in 2004. That law was simpler to take advantage of, but offered only a handful of the benefits extended in the civil union law. Civil unions offer gay couples the legal benefits of marriage but not the title. In New Jersey, gay rights advocates are promising to keep pushing for the right to marry while some social conservatives are campaigning to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage. Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, a gay political advocacy group, said he believes the number of initial registrations is low in part because couples expect to be allowed to marry in the next few years. “Word is starting to get out that civil unions are not working,” he said. Goldstein said he has heard of about 20 cases where hospitals, employers and other institutions have told people they would not recognize civil unions, even though they are legally obliged to do so. New Jersey’s civil unions law took effect Feb. 19. The legal benefits include the right to file taxes jointly, inheritance and adoption rights, and the ability to make medical decisions on a partner’s behalf. The federal government and most states, though, do not recognize the couplings.