With NJ same-sex marriage defeat, supporters are going back to court

[t0dd]

It boggles the mind that the New Jersey Senate could vote down - and by wide margin - a bill recognizing the civil rights of its citizens. Astonishing, too, is that this could happen with supporters by the hundreds - and maybe thousands today - all taking the day off to participate in the proceedings and make their opinions heard. But today's vote is not a surprise; the writing's been on the wall, in blood, for days.

But there is no giving up. All day long I've been asking people whether this finishes it for them. It does not. In a few minutes, as soon as everybody gets over there, there is a news conference. Here are Steven Goldstein's remarks, prepared last night, and embargoed to Blue Jersey until now:

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.

Now our organizations will announce major news. Our side is going back to court to win marriage equality.

We'll hear from Lambda Legal in a moment. Let's be clear about what this news means. We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.

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. Too often, civil union couples too often cannot visit loved ones in hospitals, make medical decisions for their partners or receive equal health benefits from employers. 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. That's important. New Jersey legislators themselves said it. Our opponents in the legislature said it.

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.

...

http://bluejersey.com/diary/14093/marriage-equality-were-going-back-to-court

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

1. Thanks for the info.

Is there a link where we can find how the vote fell?

[Unvanguard]

2. There's a link at the top of the article linked to in the OP. n/t