25 October 2006

I admit it. I had visions of legally saying "I Do" with the girl on the beach at Margate or Stone Harbor in NJ. But the New Jersey Supreme Court decided today to let the State Legislature decide on gay marriage.

There was real hope that the relatively liberal state would join Massachusetts and allow us to legally wed there--and with NO residency requirements. And although I'm disappointed--I think letting the legislature (aka the PEOPLE) decide is the right thing to do. Remember the backlash in Massachusetts when gay marriage was decreed by "judicial fiat?" Gay marriage bans sprung up--and won--in several states the very next election. People think it's unfair and undemocratic. Imagine the backlash with it happening in a tight midterm election (the GOP is already trying to whip up the base on this decision.) The good news is the NJ Supreme Court is giving the legislature 180 days to figure out a way to give gay couples the same rights as straight couples--and I hope (and assume) they'll do the right thing.

I thought this excerpt from the decision really cuts to the heart of the issue:

"The issue is not about the transformation of the traditional definition of marriage, but about the unequal dispensation of benefits and privileges to one of two similarly situated classes of people."

Amen!