The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that gay couples are entitled to the same rights held by heterosexual couples. But the Court refused to say whether gay couples will access those rights through marriage or civil unions. State legislators have 180 days to create a bill that will mandate equal rights for same-sex couples via marriage or equal rights via civil unions.
If they call it 'civil unions', is it equal rights?
New York Times:
In a decision filled with bold and sweeping pronouncements about equality, the New Jersey Supreme Court gave the Democratic-controlled Legislature 180 days to either expand existing laws or come up with new ones to provide gay couples benefits including tuition assistance, survivors’ benefits under workers’ compensation laws and spousal privilege in criminal trials.
“Our decision today significantly advances the civil rights of gays and lesbians,” Justice Barry T. Albin wrote for the majority. “We have decided that our state Constitution guarantees that every statutory right and benefit conferred to heterosexual couples through civil marriage must be made available to committed same-sex couples.”
But the ruling passed along the thorniest question, of whether true equality demands the same name, to the Legislature, saying “such change must come from the crucible of the democratic process..”
Washington Post:
"Although we cannot find that a fundamental right to same-sex marriage exists in this state, the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our state constitution," the court said in its 4 to 3 ruling.
Seven gay couples had sued in state court for the right to marry but lost their cases in lower state courts. On Wednesday, they gathered in the offices of their attorneys in Newark to await the court's decision.
When the high court's ruling was announced shortly after 3 p.m., there was less jubilation than stunned puzzlement. Karen Nicholson-McFadden of Aberdeen, N.J., gave a little laugh, and then the tears came. Her partner, Marcye Nicholson-McFadden, held Karen's hand.
"I'm supposed to feel relief, right?" said Karen, who sat beside the couple's two children, Kasey, 7, and Maya, 3.
Marcye noted that their relationship to each other has been questioned at the most critical moments. They pay higher premiums for car insurance and health insurance, and they have spent thousands of dollars to secure joint property ownership and custody of their children. She is choosing to be hopeful.
"Our neighbors, after being told we deserve our fair rights, will not relegate us to a separate class," Marcye said later at a news conference.
Changes in New Jersey could set a more momentous precedent. New Jersey has no law like the one in Massachusetts that bars nonresidents from marrying there if the weddings could not be recognized in their home states. Thus, same-sex couples from across the nation have hoped New Jersey might offer a refuge for those seeking to marry.
Gay Politics Gender Gay Marriage News New Jersey Civil Unions
