N.J. Democrats call on GOP to override veto on gay vows

Michael Symons | Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

WESTFIELD, N.J. — Still not committing to a date for a vote, New Jersey state Senate Democratic leaders converged in the hometown of the Senate minority leader to pressure Republicans to override New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's veto of same-sex marriage and to urge the governor to permit it to happen.

"I will schedule an override vote when the advocates tell me to, and not until, out of respect to everyone involved. The advocates deserve the opportunity to drive this bus because it's impacted their families so much," said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat from Gloucester, N.J., who said Christie is blocking Republican lawmakers from voting for the bill.

"This is an issue that's not going to go away," Sweeney said.

Gay rights activists are pursuing parallel tracks of legislation and the courts to win the right for same-sex couples to marry in New Jersey. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are the only northeast states where gay marriage remains illegal.

Troy Stevenson, executive director of Garden State Equality, said his organization will ask Sweeney to schedule an override vote when it knows it has the additional support needed to pass the bill — three more votes in the Senate and 12 more in the Assembly.

"The debate is over. The debate is absolutely over. Civil unions are not and never will be equal to marriage. We know that, and it's time to override this veto," Stevenson said.

Sen. Barbara Buono, of Middlesex, N.J., the Democratic nominee for governor, said the issue is personal. Her youngest daughter, Tessa Bitterman, came out a few years ago; last week, Bitterman released a fundraising appeal and Web video criticizing Christie's opposition to same-sex marriage.

"This is a governor — there's one man in New Jersey that stands in the way of marriage equality, one man who is saying that their love is just not as good as everyone else's," said Buono.

Christie, in Seaside Park, N.J., scoffed at Sweeney's assertion he is preventing lawmakers from voting as they want on the issue. He said reasonable people disagree on the issue and that the public should get to decide in a referendum.

"No one has to worry about my principles. You may disagree with them, and reasonable people in New Jersey can disagree, but for Sen. Sweeney to be talking about principles and conscience on this issue, a guy who a few years ago abstained, now all of a sudden he's a champion of same-sex marriage, he makes me laugh," said Christie, referencing a January 2010 vote in the Senate on same-sex marriage.

Sweeney said "it's insulting" to call for civil rights to be determined by a popular vote.

Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean Jr., a Republican from Union, N.J., referenced the same vote as Christie, saying in a statement that "we do not need lectures from a senator who did not take a stand in 2010." Kean also noted two Democrats opposed the bill in February 2012.

Sweeney and Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a Democrat from Union, both referred to Kean's father, Gov. Thomas Kean, as one of New Jersey's greatest governors. They noted that Kean vetoed a bill in 1982 that would have required a daily one-minute moment of silence in public schools but allowed Republican lawmakers to vote to override his veto, which they did. The bill was later ruled unconstitutional.

"He has enough personal integrity to stand by his beliefs but not impose his personal beliefs on his fellow Republican legislators. That took a lot of courage. That took somebody who really is comfortable in his own beliefs, that he didn't have to ride herd on his fellow Republicans," said Lesniak, who said Christie is "behind the moral curve of the universe" and should think of his role in history.

Last week's Supreme Court ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional has given new legal heft to an effort by advocates to have the New Jersey courts legalize same-sex marriage. They will file a motion in state Superior Court on Wednesday seeking such a ruling; oral arguments in the case will be held in mid-August.

Tuesday's news conference was held at the home of Liz Flanagan, 69, and Nancy Wilkinson, 56. The couple met approximately 40 years ago while working at Bell Labs. They will celebrate their 30th anniversary next week. Five years ago, they entered into a civil union.

Wilkinson said that as other states have enacted gay marriage, it's become clear civil unions, which New Jersey established in 2006 in response to a state Supreme court ruling, aren't equivalent.

"To begin to feel again like a second-class citizen has been depressing, especially after the initial elation that was brought by the decision. And certainly with the DOMA ruling happening, which was wonderful, it's disappointing. It's a setback to feel what we had for a while isn't really real because we aren't really ever going to be married," Wilkinson said.

Contributing: Kristi Funderburk, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press; The Associated Press