Newark couple that
sued for gay marriage
gets license
Newsday.com from the
Web, March 29, 2007
NEWARK, N.J. Mar.27 -- One of
the seven gay couples who sued New Jersey for the right to marry received their
license for a civil union Tuesday morning.
Saundra Toby-Heath, 53, and Alicia Heath-Toby, 44, walked away from Newark City
Hall with their license about 8:45 a.m.
"It was a very nice morning," said Saundra Toby-Heath, "a lot different from the
first time when we went almost five years ago."
Once they and the other gay couples were turned down for a marriage license, the
couples sued the state in 2002 for the right to marry in a landmark lawsuit.
In October, the state Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to deny gay
couples access to the protections of marriage, but left it up to lawmakers to
decide whether to call it marriage. In December, New Jersey lawmakers
created civil unions for gay couples in response to the high court edict,
granting all the legal benefits of marriage without the title.
Couples in the Garden State could begin applying for licenses on Feb. 19.
Toby-Heath and Heath-Toby have been together for 18 years and legally changed
their names to reflect their commitment.
They held a religious commitment ceremony in 1999. The couple's pastor,
the Rev. Janyce Jackson, will officiate their civil union ceremony on Saturday
at their Newark home.
So far the number of gay couples applying for civil unions has been lower than
activists expected. At least 219 gay couples applied for unions during the
first month they were available in New Jersey, according to a report by the
state Health and Senior Services Department released last week.
By comparison, about 500 gay and lesbian couples in New Jersey registered on the
first day the state's domestic partnership law went into effect in 2004.
That law was simpler to take advantage of, but offered only a handful of the
benefits extended in the civil union law.
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