Barring a court intervention, New Jersey is mere days from the peals of long-silenced wedding bells for gay marriage. Last week, a judge ruled for the second time that same-sex couples can marry — for real, this time — beginning a week from tomorrow.

And once again, Gov. Chris Christie wants to block the path to the altar.

For a Republican with presidential aspirations, it’s the predictable play. Christie, however, should be more concerned with his legacy. And that means acknowledging the nation’s steady march toward marriage equality and getting out of its way.

Last month, a Superior Court judge ordered the state to permit same-sex marriages, starting next week. Civil unions — New Jersey’s alternative — don’t carry the same rights and privileges as a bona fide marriage and therefore, Judge Mary Jacobson ruled, they’re unconstitutional.

The Christie administration appealed Jacobson's ruling and the Oct. 21 start date. On Thursday, Jacobson rejected the appeal, saying a delay would only prolong the assault on gay couples' rights. Christie appealed that ruling, too, and on Friday, the state Supreme Court agreed to take the case.

Asked about his gay marriage opposition during Tuesday’s debate with gubernatorial opponent Barbara Buono, Christie repeated his stance that New Jersey voters should decide the issue in a referendum.

"If we're going to change the core definition of marriage," he said, "I don't think that should be decided by 121 politicians in Trenton or seven judges on the Supreme Court."

We're past that point, Governor. Thirteen states and 16 countries have legalized gay marriage — including South Africa, where apartheid was the law until 1994. More than half the United States supports marriage equality. Among young people, it's 70 percent, so it's clear what the future holds.

New Jersey’s Legislature approved gay marriage in 2012, only to see it vetoed by Christie. Now the courts have opened the door to marriage equality and, again, Christie stands in the way.

It no longer needs to be pointed out that Christie is playing to a larger, more conservative audience these days. His re-election on Nov. 5 is as close to a pre-Election Day certainty as there is. That gives him freedom to jockey for the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2016, for which he’ll need to prove himself more severely conservative. Expect this rightward shift to continue.

Christie’s words — leave it to voters, not judges or politicians — portray a man who wants history to take its own course, without meddling from the government.

His actions, on the other hand, have stonewalled New Jersey’s march toward equality at every turn.

Christie could borrow a page from President Obama, who allowed his stance on same-sex marriage to evolve and ultimately dropped the federal government’s defense of the doomed Defense of Marriage Act. Or from Christie’s own party, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who reversed course on same-sex marriage after learning his son is gay.

Christie says New Jersey’s best path toward a marriage equality decision is to hold a referendum. That gives Christie his political out — and leaves the basic rights of gay people subject to the whims of a political campaign. The civil liberties of a minority shouldn’t be subject to majority rule.

The popular consensus on same-sex marriage is inevitable. Christie can position himself on the right side of history, in this case, simply by getting out of its way.

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