N.J. judge: State must allow gays to marry

Bob Jordan | Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey judge ruled Friday that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry, but the decision will have to withstand an appeal from Gov. Chris Christie's administration.

Now that the federal government recognizes gay marriages, not doing so in New Jersey would violate the state constitution, Judge Mary Jacobson of Mercer County Superior Court said.

Jacobson's order released Friday said same-sex marriages could begin Oct. 21, but Christie's appeal likely will include a request for a stay, blocking the marriages from happening until the matter receives additional judicial vetting.

Christie is opposed to gay marriage. But his press secretary, Michael Drewniak, said the governor "has always maintained that he would abide by the will of the voters on the issue of marriage equality and called for it to be on the ballot this Election Day.''

"Since the Legislature refused to allow the people to decide expeditiously, we will let the (New Jersey) Supreme Court make this constitutional determination," he said.

Jacobson accepted the position of lawyers for six couples and gay-rights groups, including Garden State Equality, that the state is preventing citizens from receiving federal benefits, such access that opposite-sex married couples have to the federal pension system.

New Jersey's top court ruled in 2006 that gay couples had to have the same legal rights as married couples. Same-sex couples in New Jersey presently can enter into civil unions.

Advocates for a new law, jubilant over the judge's decision, said they were prepared to dig in for a lengthy process before change can be enacted — either through withstanding an appeal that could take months, or by picking up enough votes in the Legislature to override Christie's 2012 veto of a marriage-equality bill.

Sheila Oliver, an Essex County Democrat who is speaker of the New Jersey Assembly and a sponsor of the bill that Christie vetoed, urged the Republican governor to not contest the court ruling.

"Same-sex couples were denied equal right for too long and Governor Christie's veto only prolonged their struggle unnecessarily,'' Oliver said. "Let's clear the way for equal rights for all families.''

Assembly member, John Wisniewski, also a Democrat, called on Christie "to put an end to his attempt to thwart the state constitution and the will of New Jersey's people and recognize that marriage equality in New Jersey is not only right and just but it is also inevitable.''

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers with few exceptions have sided with the governor.

"My position based on religious beliefs is that marriage is between a man and a woman,'' Ocean County Assemblyman Ronald Dancer said.

Michael Premo, campaign manager for New Jersey United for Marriage, called Jacobson's decision "monumental'' and a "tipping point in the fight for marriage equality.''

"Still, we realize this is not the end,'' said Premo, whose group is lobbying lawmakers for additional support in floor votes in the Senate and Assembly. Those votes must take place by Jan. 14, the last day of action on bills in the current legislative session. An override needs two-thirds support in both houses.

John Tomicki, head of the New Jersey Coalition To Preserve and Protect Marriage, said the court case so far has dealt only with the financial implications of civil unions.

"It's not just a question of financial benefits. It's a question of the value of traditional marriage, how it strengthens a culture,'' he said. Tomicki said the appeal would give the state a chance to expand its argument.

'On the right side of history'

Chris Paseka's sister-in-law called to tell him about the ruling, which he said "is on the right side of history."

Paseka of Red Bank, N.J., joined in a civil union with his husband, Jesse Bello-Paseka, purposely opting to wait until New Jersey allows same-sex marriages instead of traveling to a state that already allows them because they want to marry in their home state.

While the Pasekas still have more hurdles before they can marry legally here — and Chris Paseka he intends to do so the moment they can — he sees the ruling as a positive step toward equality.

"It's a smart step for this state, and I think it's the right thing to do," he said. "It just equalizes the playing field. It doesn't give gay people anything more. It gives them what everyone else is getting in this state. It's 2013. It's about time."

Randy Bishop, a Neptune Township committeeman and the first elected official in New Jersey to enter a civil union with his husband, Dan Margo, said he was pleased with the ruling. He considered it only option New Jersey courts have after the June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

"I don't see how a judge, based on the Supreme Court ruling and the strength of the New Jersey Constitution, could have made a ruling other than what she did," he said.

Bishop said he saw an appeal of Friday's Superior Court ruling as further denial of gay and lesbian rights.

"The governor should allow the decision to stand and allow all New Jersey residents to move forward to have the full liberties and equal protection under the law that we all so cherish," he said. "To go through the appeals process, is he trying to make a point? And what is that point?"

Bishop said he will be curious to see whether the courts allow New Jersey's civil unions to be changed to marriage certificates. Bishop, who as a former Neptune mayor has performed both marriages and civil unions, said the only difference between the documents is the title at the top of the page.

"We are married," he said. "In the eyes of people and everyone else, we are married. Let us have the last and special date we celebrated be the special date for us."

New Jersey has been one of four states that allow civil unions entitling gay couples to spousal rights without calling the legal union a marriage.

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia currently now same-sex couples to marry.

Same-sex couples in New Jersey "cannot access many federal marital benefits as partners in civil unions,'' Jacobson wrote. "Same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in order to obtain equal protection of the law under the New Jersey Constitution.''

Contributing: The Associated Press

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Source: Freedom to Marry