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NJ Attorney General Says No to Same-Sex Marriages
By Reuters from the NYTimes on the Web, March 9, 2004 NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey's attorney general said on Tuesday state law did not permit same-sex marriages and warned local authorities that issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples could bring criminal prosecution. Attorney General Peter Harvey issued the ruling one day after the first gay wedding in New Jersey, where a male couple tied the knot in the seaside town of Asbury Park after obtaining a marriage license from the clerk's office. Same-sex couples have been receiving marriage licenses in cities including Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco, where more than 3,500 same-sex couples have wed in recent weeks, and there has also been support for allowing gay weddings in New York state, New Mexico and Massachusetts. The initiatives have touched off a vigorous national debate and spurred President Bush to call for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Asbury Park became a magnet for gay couples after Monday's same-sex union between Ric Best and Louis Navarette and couples lined up on Tuesday morning to apply for licenses when City Hall opened. Harvey later ordered local officials to refrain from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and added that any marriage licenses or certificates of marriage issued to same-sex couples ``have no legal force and will not be recognized as valid under State law.'' Marriage is not expressly defined in New Jersey statutes as a union between a man and a woman, Harvey acknowledged, but its prohibition was based on ``historic assumption'' over references to ``husband'' and ``wife'' in various statutes. ``We continue to believe that, ultimately, the issue of same sex marriage is most appropriately addressed by the Legislature,'' Harvey said. New Jersey's Superior Court ruled in November that state law did not permit same-sex marriages, but that decision is being appealed based on the U.S. constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law. |
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