http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15416613/

N.J. high court opens door to gay marriage
Justices force Legislature to decide how state will honor same-sex union

Updated: 4:25 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2006

TRENTON, N.J. - {AP} New Jersey’s Supreme Court opened the door to gay
marriage Wednesday, ruling that homosexuals are entitled to the same
rights as heterosexuals, but leaving it to lawmakers to legalize
same-sex unions.

The high court gave lawmakers 180 days to rewrite marriage laws to
either include same-sex couples or create a new system of civil unions
for them.

The ruling is similar to the 1999 decision in Vermont that led to civil
unions there, which offer the benefits of marriage, but not the name.

“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 wrote for the 4-3 majority’s
decision.

Outside the Supreme Court, news of the ruling caused confusion, with
many of the roughly 100 gay marriage supporters outside asking each
other what it meant. Many started to agree that they needed to push for
a state constitutional amendment to institute gay marriage.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/njruling.pdf

Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s main gay and lesbian political
organization, quickly announced Wednesday that three lawmakers would
introduce a bill in the Legislature to get full marriage rights to
same-sex couples.

Domestic partnership laws in place
Gay couples in New Jersey can already apply for domestic partnerships
under a law the Legislature passed in 2004 giving gay couples some
benefits of marriage, such as the right to inherit possessions if there
is no will and healthcare coverage for state workers.

Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine supports domestic partnerships, but not
gay marriage.

Supporters pushing for full gay marriage have had a two-year losing
streak in state courts including New York, Washington, and in both
Nebraska and Georgia, where voter-approved bans on gay marriage were
reinstated.

They also have suffered at the ballot boxes in 15 states where
constitutions have been amended to ban same-sex unions.

Cases similar to the one ruled on Wednesday, which was filed by seven
gay New Jersey couples, are pending in California, Connecticut, Iowa and
Maryland.

“New Jersey is a stepping stone,” said Matt Daniels, president of the
Virginia-based Alliance for Marriage, a group pushing for an amendment
to the federal Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage. “It’s not about
New Jersey.”

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