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NJ Civil
Union Bill
Heads To
House Vote
By
365Gay.com from the Web, December 7, 2006
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Trenton, New Jersey --
Ignoring the pleas of same-sex couples the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary
Committee approved a bill granting civil unions to gay and lesbian couples,
voting to send the measure to the full Assembly for a floor vote.
It is likely the measure will become law before the end of the year.
Dozens of gay rights supporters rallied at the Capitol on Thursday in an attempt
to convince lawmakers that civil unions are not an acceptable alternative to
marriage.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in October that same-sex couples should have
access to the same rights and benefits as married couples. Whether to call
those rights marriages, civil unions or something else was left up to lawmakers.
New Jersey's largest LGBT civil rights organization, Garden State Equality, has
slammed the civil unions bill as not worth the paper it's printed on. It
offers little more than is already covered under the state's domestic partner
law.
It supports Assemblyman Reed Gusciora's marriage equalization bill which would
allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The bill by the openly gay
Democrat has not received the endorsement of party leadership. Democrats
control both houses in New Jersey.
Lambda Legal, the organization representing plaintiffs in a lawsuit which
resulted in the New Jersey Supreme Court decision in October, called the measure
discriminatory.
"If passed, this huge civil union bill will become one of the largest forms of
statutory discrimination ever created by the New Jersey Legislature," said David
Buckel, Marriage Project Director at Lambda Legal and lead attorney on the New
Jersey marriage lawsuit.
"The discriminatory bill is 63 pages all to avoid the one word that does the job
--- marriage."
The committee agreed to one amendment to the bill that particularly angered gay
activists. The original bill did not use the word spouse, instead had the
phrase "parties in a civil union". The wording was changed to read "civil
union couples."
"There can only be one reason for this bill, and that is to say that same-sex
couples' relationships are unworthy of marriage. The Court gave the
legislature 180 days to do it right --- let's not rush and do it wrong," added
Buckel.
A new poll out on Thursday shows New Jersey voters support civil unions 60 - 35
percent. But they balk at same-sex marriage. The Quinnipiac
University poll showed that 44 percent would allow gay marriage while 50 percent
were opposed.
The poll also showed strong opposition to amending the state constitution to bar
gay marriages.
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