With a judge’s decision late last week to legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey, many gay advocates are hoping marriage equality comes to the Garden State very soon. Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D-38) told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that he hopes good will prevails over ideology and same-sex marriage becomes officially legal in October.
Eustace said he believes Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to appeal the judge’s decision is due to his political ambitions. “His political future is what he’s moving on, not the citizens of New Jersey. The citizens of New Jersey by and large, I think by 65 percent agree that marriage equality’s a timely thing. I think the appeal is a halfhearted thing,” Eustace said. “This was a superior court decision that once it’s sent up to the Supreme Court it was based on the state constitution and the federal constitution. I think that it has full standing and will be seen that way.”
Although Christie plans to appeal the decision, he did sign a bill that bans the use of conversion therapy on minors. Eustace said he was “thrilled and surprised” that the governor signed that bill so quickly.
“I don’t think that the governor has any animosity or ill will towards the gay people of the state of New Jersey. I just think it’s timely for full citizenry to be given to everybody in the state of New Jersey,” he said. “And I think the governor sees that it’s timely and that’s why it’s not an appeal and a stay from what I understand. It’s an appeal.”
The judge’s order said same-sex couples will be able to apply for marriage licenses starting Oct. 21. “Many of us are planning to do that on Oct. 21 and then 72 hours later you can get married,” Eustace said. He has been in a committed relationship for 33 years next month and is in a civil union.
Eustace and his partner adopted three children, two of which are young men. He explained that one died of AIDS many years ago during the crisis. “We adopted border babies and kids affected with AIDS,” he said.
The law has a personal effect on Eustace and he hopes his experience can bring a sense of reality to the issue for others. “I think that’s one of the things that the members of the legislature get to see. That gay people have families too. We’re not an idea. A lot of people deal with the ideas that come through the legislature as one or two dimensional items instead of that affect people’s families,” he said. “There’s over 16,000 gay families from what I understand in the state of New Jersey.”
In addition to having a marriage certificate and the designation, there are many legal benefits as well, Eustace said. He explained that on the day he was sworn into the legislature, his partner had open heart surgery. When he went to the hospital with his children, he said it was at times humiliating to explain the situation.
“Many people have no idea what a civil union is so beyond that, what you get are assurance benefits. We can buy one membership at the local pool. Things that people don’t even think about. God forbid if one of us died, our estate, we would have to pay separately what we worked on for three decades,” Eustace said. “So by getting the IRS’ approval just a few weeks ago and by striking down DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act], we move forward across the field and here in New Jersey, we’re almost there.”