On Wednesday
the New Jersey supreme court handed down its eagerly
awaited same-sex marriage ruling, deciding 4-3
that gay couples should have the same rights,
benefits, and obligations as married couples. However,
the court punted the question of what to call such
legal status to the state legislature, which has
180 days (and counting) to figure out whether gay
couples will be allowed to marry or if they will have to
settle for forming civil unions. Starting with
salient quotations from the court's majority and
minority opinions, The Advocate rounded up
some sound bites of reaction.
"Although we cannot
find that a fundamental right to same-sex marriage
exists in this state, the unequal dispensation of
rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners
can no longer be tolerated under our state
Constitution." --Justice Barry T.
Albin, writing for the court majority"Ultimately,
the message is that what same-sex couples have is
not as important or significant as 'real'
marriage, that such lesser relationships cannot have the
name of marriage." --former chief
justice Deborah T. Poritz, writing for the minority"The words
the court said, that we were denied our equality, is
music to our ears, because it's what
we've been living. And it's wonderful to
have that recognized." --Cindy
Meneghin, plaintiff"It's
a win. We would have liked marriage tomorrow, but
this is great progress." --Susan L.
Sommer, a Lambda Legal attorney on the case"This makes
sense as statesmanship. The word marriage
seems to push people's buttons in a major
way." --Andrew Koppelman,
Northwestern University law professor"I applaud the
court's courage. I regret not having had
the fortitude to embrace this right during my
tenure as governor." --James McGreevey,
former New Jersey governor
"So help us
God, New Jersey's LGBTI community and our
millions of straight allies will settle for
nothing less than 100% marriage equality."
--Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair"I
don't think there is an American in the
country who would cash in their marriage in
exchange for a civil union." --Evan
Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry"We hope
that the legislature hears us and hears all of the gays
and lesbians around this state that we want
marriage." --Colleen O'Connell,
supporter of same-sex marriage"New Jersey
is a progressive state and has a tradition of
tolerance." --Reed Gusciora,
Democratic New Jersey assemblyman
"Neither the framers of
New Jersey's 1947 constitution, nor the voters
who ratified it, ever remotely contemplated the
possibility of same-sex marriage."
--Richard Merkt, Republican New Jersey
assemblyman, who has threatened to impeach the seven justices
"Marriage
has been a religious institution adopted by the
government, and a lot of religions have defined it
in a way that that excludes gays. That's not
what the government does, and the court clearly demands
that we offer gay couples the same rights and
obligations that heterosexual couples have under
our marriage laws. But we can do it in a way that
respects people's religious
beliefs." --Raymond J. Lesniak,DemocraticNew Jersey
state senator"This is
manna from heaven for Republicans. It puts a social
issue that really helps Republicans at the top of
the agenda in the final days of the election.
Republicans must have prayed for this."
--Larry Sabato, University of Virginia
political science professor"The court
subverted the constitution, and they subverted the
definition of marriage. We are opposed to
undermining the traditional definition of marriage
by just giving it a different label."
--John Tomicki, executive director of the
League of American Families"It is now
up to the New Jersey state legislature to implement the
court's decision and to make the right to
marry a reality for same sex couples. New York
State's legislature must also act to address this
injustice in New York, so that all citizens are
treated equally on both sides of the Hudson
River." --Christine Quinn, New York City
council speaker(Sources:
Associated Press, The New York Times,The(Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger,Toronto Daily News,Edgeboston.com)
