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The New Jersey Supreme Court today ruled to guarantee Gay/Lesbian couples the same
protection under New Jersey law as their heterosexual counterparts. The ruling gives the
legislature six months to include gays in the state's current marriage statutes, or create a new
law in which gay couples “would enjoy the rights of civil marriage.” The former would have
New Jersey as only the second state, (after Massachusetts) to include gays in their marriage
laws, the latter would create civil union laws similar to those in Vermont. This lesser option
would be akin to the separate-but-equal status that blacks were relegated to during segregation.
Still, most GLBT groups feel that even the guarantee of civil unions would be a step in the right
direction towards eventual equality.
This is particularly good news for gays and lesbians who
have been exploited under the current administration as
President Bush’s sacrifice to his conservative base. His
promise to create a constitutional amendment to ban
recognition of gay marriages was at least partially credited
with his 2004 election win. The amendment would have
further entrenched the legalized homophobia already in place
with President Bill Clinton’s 1996 Defense of Marriage Act,
which held that neither the federal government nor any state
need recognize a gay marriage performed in another state.
Luckily, Bush made little effort post-election to enforce this
ploy.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, whether
the legislature decides to simply include gays and lesbians
under their current marriage laws, or whether they adopt a
new civil union policy, “the rights and protections of must be
the same.” Of course in the game that is politics one can
never admit a loss; The Coalition to Preserve and Protect
Marriage is calling the ruling a partial victory in that it only has
to grant homosexual couples the benefits of marriage, and not
necessarily include them in current marriage laws, or even
refer to their unions as marriages. When all else fails, play a
game of semantics; whatever keeps the support money
coming in. Michele Combs, director of communications for the
conservative lobby group Christian Coalition states, “We feel
that the legislature is going to vote in favor of defining
marriage as an act between a man and a woman,” Keep the
faith sister, but you can’t stop love.
Exactly Who Is On Our Side?
Hillary Clinton maintains her support for
her husbands 1996 Defense of
Marriage Act. Hillary has been all but
silent on the issue of gay marriage. Her
noncommittal words, of supporting
entitlements such as insurance,
pensions, and hospital visitation rights
for gays are weak. She refuses to take
any stand on this issue, choosing
instead to dance around it in an
effort to please the center-to - right
wing of her electorate.
With the John Kerry camp making
noises about another attempt at a
presidential run, perhaps we should
revisit his stand on gay marriage.
Though John Kerry was an opponent of
Clinton’s Defense of Marriage Act,
when the spotlight is on, and the votes
count, Kerry went on record against
gay marriage. Like Hillary
Clinton, he is in favor of some
protections under the law for gay
unions, such as civil unions – but
marriage? No way.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
pays great lip service to his largely gay
electorate, but when, for a brief moment
back in 2005, a New York Judge ruled
that under the New York constitution
gay couples have the right to marry,
Bloomberg was quick to announce an
appeal, citing the crowds it would bring
into New York. He didn’t seem to mind
the crowds brought in a year earlier by
the not-too-welcomed Republican
National Convention.
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