N.J. lawmakers act to officially enshrine same-sex marriage into law - NJ.com
Eight years after court decisions made same-sex marriage legal in New Jersey, the state Senate on Monday passed a bill that would officially enshrine gay couples right to wed into state law.
The state Senate voted 35-4, and sent the bill to the Assembly, which planned to consider it later Monday.
Once the Assembly approves it, Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to sign it.
A push to legalize gay marriage in the Garden State failed in the Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2012. But the following year, New Jersey became the 14th state to allow gay couples to wed when the state Supreme Court declined to hear a lower court’s ruling that said banning same-sex marriage violated equal protection guaranteed under the state Constitution. Then-Gov. Chris Christie’s administration dropped its legal challenge.
The U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the country two years later.
This new bill would write the state Superior Court decision that legalized same-sex weddings in New Jersey into state law. Democrats who lead the Legislature felt this new bill (A5367) was needed amid fear the right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court might overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that has given women across America access to abortion for decades. Democrats worry the right for gay couples to marry might also be in jeopardy, and this measure would protect gay marriage in New Jersey if that happens.
Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, said “devoted same-sex couples all across New Jersey are raising families as contributing members of their communities.”
“We fought to correct the injustice that denied these rights for too many loving couples for far too long,” Weinberg added. “We don’t want to see those rights lost to an arch-conservative agenda of recent Supreme Court appointees.”
Moments before the bill passed in the Senate, outgoing Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, apologized for abstaining on the bill that would have legalized gay marriage in New Jersey in 2010 — a sentiment he has shared before. He urged his colleagues to vote unanimously to send a message to the country that marriage equity is “a civil right.”
“This is about acting to ensure equal treatment and civil rights for all New Jerseyans, including same-sex couples,” Sweeney said.
Republican Sens. Christopher Connors of Ocean County, Michael Doherty of Warren County, Robert Singer of Ocean County, and Steven Oroho of Sussex County voted no. Sen. James Holzapfel of Ocean County did not vote.
Murphy, a Democrat, has not said whether he’d sign it into law, but it’s unlikely he’d oppose the bill.
“It’s pretty clear we are on gay marriage,” he said Monday at his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton.
There is also a bill (S3030) in the Legislature to enshrine Roe v. Wade into state law and expand abortion access in New Jersey. But while that measure, the Reproductive Freedom Act, has Murphy’s support, it has yet to be considered in either the state Senate or Assembly.
Sweeney said Monday he won’t post the bill for a vote in its current format, noting that leaders are “still working on amendments to try to get it done.” He wouldn’t say which changes they are discussing.
Asked if he’ll commit to posting the bill before the lame-duck voting session runs out Jan. 11, Sweeney said: “If I can get the bill right, we will.”
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source: https://www.nj.com/politics/2021/12/nj-lawmakers-act-to-officially-enshrine-same-sex-marriage-into-law.html
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