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Nancy Cotter of Montclair and Lisa Bartoli of Asbury Park share a laugh as they swear that they completed their marriage license application truthfully at Asbury Park's City Hall.

(John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — With same-sex weddings set to begin at midnight tonight, lawmakers in Trenton are already looking to create their own history by overriding the governor's veto of a bill that would legalize gay marriage.

Buoyed by the strong language of the state Supreme Court’s refusal to put a hold on gay marriage, several members of the Senate and Assembly yesterday were hoping the decision would sway lawmakers to overturn Gov. Chris Christie’s earlier veto of a gay marriage bill.

“The votes are beginning to be counted,” said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex). “By Monday, you will see marriages being performed in New Jersey. That’s going to influence those sitting on the fence.”

The Legislature has never reversed a Christie veto.

Although the court’s ruling on gay marriage would seem to make such action a moot point, proponents say the ultimate ruling is no sure thing and that the law on who may marry is codified in legislation.

“It’s important to get the legislative change on the books,” said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union). “This court was unanimous in its decision that there is not a likelihood the appeal will succeed. On the other hand, courts ultimately do change and Supreme Courts do reverse themselves.”

While lawmakers counted, same-sex couples were starting to show up for licenses at city halls and clerk’s offices across the state yesterday, with the first marriages set for a minute after midnight tonight.

Lesniak will be hosting a ceremony at his home in Elizabeth, where Marsha Shapiro and Louise Walpin — two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit at the center of the Supreme Court ruling — will be married at 12:01 a.m. Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchio also plan to lead ceremonies for gay couples after midnight, when the bar to gay marriage in New Jersey is lifted.

Extra office hours

Still, there was no immediate sign that couples were rushing to tie the knot. City halls in several New Jersey cities and towns added extra office hours yesterday to accept marriage license applications, including Jersey City and Hoboken.

Asbury Park City Clerk Kiki Tomek, who opened her office at 10 a.m., said she saw only five couples in the first half hour — all of whom she had to turn away because they were from out of town. Couples must obtain license applications from the town in which they live and they must be accompanied by a witness.

Among those who did get licenses were Nancy Cotter of Montclair and Lisa Bartoli of Asbury Park, who arrived with witnesses Anthony Greco and Frank Rowe of Tinton Falls.

Janell Pyzik and Jill Dolan of Asbury Park said they’re getting married as soon as possible to make sure they have all the benefits in place for their 5-month-old daughter, Navy.

“Everything’s about her now. The quicker the better,” Dolan said.

Starlett Gomez of Long Branch and Yvonne Belinfanti of Asbury Park said they will be married Oct. 27. The two joined in a civil union in August, complete with a 130-person reception and a honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas. Their wedding and reception will be much more low key.

“It may be a quiet day because financially we just can’t afford it right now,” Gomez said. “But we’ll be celebrating both dates as our anniversary because this is monumental,” she said.

The proposal

Tom Ziering, a physician in Bernardsville, said he proposed to his partner of more than two decades yesterday in the back of a car as they were being driven home from the airport.

“We are married in New York already and had a commitment ceremony by a rabbi 19 years ago,” Ziering said. “But to be able to get married in our own state means we can actually have a wonderful, legally recognized ceremony. On May 20, we will be together 24 years, so that will be our target date!”

Under state law, couples must normally wait 72 hours after applying for a marriage license before they can tie the knot. Troy Stevenson, the executive director of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said he was trying to line up judges who could waive the waiting period for individual couples so they could exchange vows after the stroke of midnight.

The lifting of the bar to same-sex marriage in New Jersey came after the Supreme Court on Friday refused a request by the Christie administration to stay a lower court decision that allowed gay marriage until the matter could be reviewed in a pending appeal to the high court. Although that appeal has been fast-tracked with oral arguments scheduled for early January, the court’s opinion suggested it had all but decided the matter.

“The state has advanced a number of arguments, but none of them overcome this reality: same-sex couples who cannot marry are not treated equally under the law today. The harm to them is real, not abstract or speculative,” said the court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

Still, proponents of same-sex marriage say they will continue to push for the Legislature to act, even before the court takes up the appeal. Michael Premo, campaign manager for New Jersey United for Marriage, said while the court has temporarily opened the way for gay marriage, there is no certainty the decision will stand.

“Even though we think we have a strong case, the way to guarantee freedom for these folks — to make it count, to make it last, is through the override of the governor’s veto,” Premo said.

Christie's veto

Christie nearly two years ago vetoed a landmark gay marriage bill that had passed both houses of the Legislature. His position has been that the issue should be decided by voters through a referendum.

The Legislature has until January to attempt an override, but with a 24-16 vote in the Senate and a 42-33 vote in the Assembly, supporters were short of the necessary two-thirds majority to override the governor and never attempted to bring back the bill.

They need 54 votes in the Assembly and 27 in the Senate.

Premo, whose group has been talking with individual legislators for months in an effort to sway votes toward supporting an override, says the court decision on Friday gave a powerful kick toward reversal.

“It will spark folks to change their votes,” he said.

Assemblyman Timothy Eustace (D-Bergen) said the court had empowered the Legislature to act. “People who were reticent last time will be ready to vote their conscience,” he said.

Oliver, meanwhile, said there has been no real aggressive push in the Statehouse by those against same-sex marriage. “We’ve seen no barrage of letters, e-mails, postcards or picketing. No lobbying for one-on-one meetings. We’ve heard nothing,” she said.

Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Union) said he has not heard of any vote on a possible override, but believes the issue at this point is over for all practical purposes.

“Whether or not they post it for a vote, I doubt the Supreme Court will override,” he said. “From a legal standpoint, not a political one, this issue looks moot. There is not much left to discuss as to whether this is going to be legal in New Jersey.”

A spokesman for the governor declined comment.

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