Gay Marriage New Jersey 2013: Garden State Overrules Governor Chris Christie's Appeal, Becomes Latest State To Legalize Marriage Equality
The New Jersey Supreme Court overruled Governor Chris Christie's administration request to delay marriage equality in the state, and gay couples will be able to marry starting Monday.
Gay rights advocates were holding their breath after the governor's request to delay a lower-court judge's decision to push forward with marriage equality in the state. The people of New Jersey breathed a sigh of relief when Chief Justice Stuart Rabner expressed his support in the decision.
"The State has advanced a number of arguments, but none of them overcome this reality: same-sex couples who cannot marry are not treated equally under the law today. The harm to them is real, not abstract or speculative," he wrote.
Despite the good news for marriage equality, the Christie administration is not finished. A state court will decide at a later date whether marriage should be allowed permanently.
New Jersey is the fourteenth and latest state to join a growing number of other states to finally recognize marriage equality. This also comes just months after United States v. Windsor concluded with the courts striking down key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that placed legal limitations on many of the rights of LGBT individuals.
This is also just the latest in the many examples of homophobic stances by the state's governor. According to NBC News, Christie's office released a statement saying the governor disagrees with the ruling.
Freedom to Marry, an organization dedicated to fighting for marriage equality, released a statement from its founder, Evan Wolfson.
"The state Supreme Court's rejection of Governor Christie's effort to string out the denial of the freedom to marry is joyous news to couples in New Jersey, who can now begin marrying at long last, just like their neighbors in New York and Delaware. And every day, every wedding, every protection made available will show that families are helped and no one hurt when gay couples share in the freedom to marry."
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