Marriage Vote In NJ Fails, What Now?
Despite being on deadline at my normal job today I was able to follow today’s legislative action in New Jersey thanks to OutFront which live-tweeted the debate and vote.
The vote failed by the way 14-20.
So what now?
Garden State Equality just sent out a press release saying they plan on reopening the court case that originally mandated NJ’s civil union law. In 2006 the state supreme court stated that gay couples had to be given a way to make medical decisions and receive their partner’s insurance. Garden State Equality believes they now have sufficient evidence to present to the court that civil unions have failed to accomplish this and that marriage is the only real solution. Here are a few excerpts from that press release:
With today’s vote in the state Senate, the New Jersey legislature defaulted on its constitutional obligation to provide same-sex couples in New Jersey equal protection, as unanimously mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006. That’s why we at Garden State Equality are here with our partner Lambda Legal, which has an extraordinary track record of advancing LGBT civil rights in the courts.
In 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court told the legislature it could enact marriage or another structure that provides the equal protection of marriage. But the civil union law failed to do that.
Hospitals and employers have treated civil union couples differently because they’ve been labeled differently. Children have been treated differently at school because their families are labeled differently.
In recent months, including today and at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December, New Jersey legislators publicly recognized these failures. They publicly acknowledged that the civil union law has not provided equal protection.
In other words, though we didn’t achieve our final victory today, we’re better positioned than we were a few months ago to win marriage equality. So if you’re wondering how we feel, it’s complicated. On the one hand, we resent, more than you can imagine, remaining second-class citizens a bit longer. On the other hand, the ball has moved forward. The public record for the courts is mighty, and we’re closer than ever to winning.
In 2006, New Jersey enacted an experiment called civil union. In 2010, New Jersey has a mountain of proof that the experiment has failed.
Gov Corzine has also issued a statement which I received via email. Here’s the statement in full:
“While I appreciate the Senate’s willingness to publicly debate the marriage equality bill, I am deeply disappointed by the final tally on this common-sense measure that would have assured equal rights for all New Jerseyans.
“Most assuredly, this is an issue of civil rights and civil liberties, the foundation of our state and federal constitutions. Denying any group of people a fundamental human right because of who they are, or whom they love, is wrong, plain and simple.”
“As was the case when Americans faced legal discrimination on the basis of their race or gender, history will frown on the denial of the basic right of marriage equality. I regret that the state’s recognition of equal justice and equal treatment under the law will be delayed. Certainly this process and the resulting debate is historic, but unfortunately, today’s vote was squarely on the wrong side of history.”
