After a six-and-a-half hour hearing, a NJ state Assembly committee approved legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry. The approval of the bill (which passed along party lines) sends it to the full Assembly for a vote on Feb. 16, and a potential showdown with Gov. Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto any gay marriage bill that passes his desk. But the most impressive, tear-filled moment of the day came when 15-year-old Madison Galluccio made an emotional plea on behalf of her two dads:

I do have to say that New Jersey has made me feel discriminated, like I'm some sort of outcast. But guess what New Jersey? I'm no outcast. I am Madison Galluccio, and I am part of the Galluccio family. My parents will be married, and I will make sure that this happens till the day that I die. So please, will you help me? Help me feel equal. We aren't different. I'm not different. And I shouldn't have to be forced to feel like I'm different. This is my family, and I want us to be able to have the same rights as you. So NJ, please give me my freedom.

Madison's fathers, Jon and Michael Galluccio, testified that NJ was once a leader among states when it came to gay rights—their fight to raise a family led New Jersey to pass a law expanding adoption rights to same-sex couples in 1997. "New Jersey has failed to become a leader in marriage equality,’’ Jon Holden Galluccio said.

Even as the committee was taking testimony, Christie repeated before an overflow crowd at a town hall meeting in Morris County that he would veto any same-sex marriage bill that came before him. He again tried to push the idea of a referendum on the issue in November instead, so that he doesn't have to be on the record vetoing or not vetoing gay marriage. But as Assemblyman John Wisiewski puts it, "Rosa Parks didn’t get to the front of the bus through a ballot question and Jim Crow laws weren’t repealed by public referendum."