Supreme courts in two states ruled on gay “marriage” rights on the same day in October, delivering results on both ends of the spectrum.
The New Jersey Supreme Court garnered the most attention when it ruled Oct. 25 that the state’s constitution requires that marriage rights be available to same-sex couples on an equal basis with heterosexuals. But the court left state legislators to decide whether to refer to the unions by the name “marriage” or a different term.
In Washington state, however, the Supreme Court declined to re-consider its decision against gay “marriage.” The ruling, signed by Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, officially puts an end to a lawsuit that sought to redefine marriage to include homosexuals, The Associated Press reported.
The New Jersey decision leaves the state in a situation akin to Vermont’s, where legislators in 2000 passed the nation’s first law legalizing “civil unions” for same-sex couples.
Vermont’s civil unions, which followed a similar court decision, offer the same rights and benefits as marriage without using the name.
All seven justices agreed the New Jersey Constitution requires the state to extend to gay couples the same rights as married couples. However, only three justices said those rights include equal use of the term “marriage,” while the four-justice majority said use of the term is not guaranteed.
Vermont and Connecticut have civil-union laws that provide identical benefits to same-sex couples as married heterosexual couples. Massachusetts, following a decision by its highest court, legalized same-sex “marriage” in 2004.
New Jersey already has a domestic-partnership law that grants to same-sex couples some of the rights and responsibilities of married heterosexuals.
However, Justice Barry Albin, who wrote the majority’s opinion, noted that the statute does not provide gay couples or their children with equal protection of the law in several critical areas, such as adoption rights.
In the latest decision, Lewis v. Harris (No. A-68-05), the New Jersey court unanimously agreed that the state constitution’s equal-protection provision, coupled with the fact that other state laws ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, requires a remedy for such disparate treatment of same-sex couples. The majority determined that such a decision “leaves the Legislature with two apparent options. The Legislature could simply amend the marriage statutes to include same-sex couples, or it could create a separate statutory structure, such as a civil union, as Connecticut and Vermont have done.”
The decision could also give a boost to supporters of proposed constitutional marriage amendments nationwide, opponents say.
Citizens in eight states will vote on marriage amendments Nov. 7, and supporters are pointing to the New Jersey decision as proof that constitutional protection is needed to defend marriage. (ABP, BP)
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