By Adele Sammarco for NewJerseyNewsroom.com
Democrats say its time to legalize same-sex marriages in the Garden State and are willing to go to battle with Republican Governor Chris Christie over this hot button issue they say is a matter of civil rights.
Then Democratic Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill into law in late 2006 allowing civil unions in the state of New Jersey. And while the state’s current Governor has since come out in support of civil unions, Christie has stated in the past that he will veto any legislation that would legalize same sex marriages.
In 2010, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) of Gloucester, helped defeat a same sex marriage bill by 20-14, and the Assembly declined to take it up.
Sweeney now calls his past vote a “terrible mistake”, and counts at least 21 backers of the bill out of the 40-member Senate, including Republican Senator Jennifer Beck of Red Bank, who did not support the bill two years ago.
“This is about doing what’s right and ensuring full equal and civil rights for all New Jerseyans,” Sweeney said in a statement release Monday. “Two years ago, I made a mistake in abstaining on marriage equality, a mistake that means same-sex couples continue to be denied the very basic civil right to live their lives as they wish. But today isn’t about me correcting my mistake. It’s about correcting a mistake for thousands of loving couples across the state who want nothing more than to be treated equally as their neighbors.”
Related Video: Democrats Plan to Introduce Marriage Equality Act
Meantime, gay-marriage opponents are already gearing up for battle, warning the legislation’s passage is not quite yet a done deal.
The Star Ledger reports Len Deo, President of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, an advocacy group lobbying against the bill as saying, “I don’t think this is a slam dunk. There’s going to be quite a battle.”
The National Organization for Marriage and the New Jersey Knights of Columbus groups have also voiced their opposition.
However, supporters of the same sex marriage bill say the current civil union law, is just simply not working and not in tune with the 21st century.
In a news release, State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) of Mercer, stated, “Opinion polls show that the majority of Americans, and the majority of New Jerseyans, favor marriage equality for same sex couples.”
After researching two state polls and six national polls, NJ.com reports PolitiFact New Jersey as finding Gusciora’s statement is mostly on target, citing public support for same-sex marriage in New Jersey and across the nation as being on the rise.
The current law is meant to give couples the same rights that straight married couples enjoy, including family leave benefits, health insurance and pension benefits.
If the same sex marriage bill passes, it will change the legal status of those already living in civil unions.
Those in such unions could either dissolve them, get married, or stay together and be considered legally married within 60 days. The bill also would protect clergy members’ beliefs by not forcing them to perform gay weddings, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Six states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage. The most recent was neighboring New York last year.
The National Organization of Marriage (NOM), an anti-gay group opposing same-sex nuptials, is reportedly getting ready to spend big money to prevent the law from passing.
The Washington Times reports the NOM could spend as much as a half a million dollars to pressure lawmakers to vote against the bill. The group tried the same in New York and lost under Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, a strong supporter of gay rights.