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NJ City Halts Same - Sex Vows But Fights in Court By REUTERS from the NYTimes on the Web, March 10, 2004 ASBURY PARK, N.J. (Reuters) - Officials in the New Jersey town of Asbury Park, the latest focus in a push for same-sex marriages in the United States, on Wednesday stopped issuing marriage certificates to gay couples but said the town would take its case to court. The officials in the seaside town, which had begun issuing licenses on Monday, acted after New Jersey's Attorney General ruled state law did not permit such marriages and threatened to prosecute officials who ignored his interpretation of the law. The dispute came amid a push by gay marriage advocates that has swept from Massachusetts to California and prompted a national debate over equal treatment for gay couples which has become a hot-button issue in this presidential election year. Asbury Park City Manager Terence Reidy said the decision to stop the marriages was taken early on Wednesday, one day after state Attorney General Peter Harvey ruled them illegal. ``The Asbury Park governing body voted unanimously today to seek a declaratory judgment from the Superior Court supporting the legality of same sex wedding vows,'' he added. Asbury Park, best known for helping launch Bruce Springsteen's singing career, had become the first town on the East Coast to issue a marriage license and perform a wedding for a gay couple. Since then, gay and lesbian couples have flocked to its City Hall to apply for licenses to marry. (Abridged)
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