More Than 200 Couples
Joined in First Month
of Civil Unions in
N.J.
By AP
from1010wins.com on the Web, March 20, 2007
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- At least
219 gay couples applied to join in civil unions during the first month they were
available in New Jersey, according to a report by the state Health and Senior
Services Department released Tuesday.
At least one couple had applied in each of the state's 21 counties:
| Atlantic |
14 |
| Bergen |
13 |
| Burlington |
10 |
| Camden |
14 |
| Cape May |
8 |
| Cumberland |
6 |
| Essex |
20 |
| Gloucester |
7 |
| Hudson |
19 |
| Hunterdon |
16 |
| Mercer |
7 |
| Middlesex |
28 |
| Monmouth |
12 |
| Morris |
15 |
| Ocean |
11 |
| Passaic |
2 |
| Salem |
1 |
| Somerset |
2 |
| Sussex |
3 |
| Union |
8 |
| Warren |
3 |
Civil unions offer gay couples the legal benefits of marriage -- but not the
title. New Jersey lawmakers created the institution in the state last
December in response to a state Supreme Court ruling two months earlier that
said it was unconstitutional to deny gay couples access to the protections of
marriage.
In the United States, only Massachusetts allows gay couples to marry.
Vermont and Connecticut also have civil unions and California has domestic
partnerships that offer benefits similar to the civil unions.
In New Jersey, gay rights advocates are promising to keep pushing for the right
to marry while some social conservatives are campaigning to amend the state
constitution to ban gay marriage.
New Jersey's civil unions law took effect Feb. 19. The new state data
covers the period from then until March 19.
The data collected by the state may not be complete. Some county
registrars may not have sent application records. Further, there could be
couples who applied for licenses but have not yet joined.
Middlesex County had the most applications: 28, or nearly one per day.
Salem County had only one.
Besides the new applicants, at least 10 gay couples who entered into civil
unions or legally recognized marriages elsewhere have filed papers to reaffirm
their relationships in New Jersey. Under the state law, couples in civil
unions from elsewhere do not have to register to receive the legal protections
in New Jersey.
Civil unions can be officiated by judges, mayors or clergy -- the same people
authorized to perform weddings.
The legal benefits include the right to file taxes jointly, inheritance and
adoption rights, and the ability to make medical decisions on a partner's
behalf. The federal government and most states, though, do not recognize
the couplings.
Some couples who are registering see them mostly as a matter of paperwork, while
others have had big celebrations that were weddings in all but name.
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