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Following Tuesday's narrow rejection of same-sex marriage in Maine, the latest front in the battle over gay rights has moved to New Jersey. The Democrat-controlled legislature in New Jersey, which currently recognizes same-sex couples in civil unions, is under pressure to pass a bill that would authorize gay marriage before Jon Corzine ends his term in mid-January. Corzine, who was unseated in Tuesday's election, said he would sign such a bill.

On the contrary, his successor, Republican Chris Christie, has taken a stand against same-sex marriages and has stated that he would veto it as governor.

"New Jersey is at the very top of our list, and it's going to happen in the next few weeks, if it happens at all," said Maggie Gallagher, the president for the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriages.

Corzine's new stance is a sharp about face from his view on gay marriage during the May 12 Republican primary when he stated that marriage "has to be between one man and one woman and that we should keep it that way in the state of New Jersey."

For much of the LGBT community in New Jersey, the current law allowing "civil unions" is not enough, and even disparaging to some, as they believe that the separate term is demeaning and their "civil union status" isn't honored by many employers.

Those who favor the bill say they realize they are risking another significant defeat but are determined to get legislators up to speed with their constituents. The state's largest gay rights organization, Garden State Equality, launched two television commercials Wednesday to make its case for allowing gay marriage.

In New York, Democrats hold a negligible 32-30 majority in the Senate, just enough needed for approval, and on Tuesday, Gov. David A. Paterson called legislators up to Albany and asked them to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

Currently, same-sex marriage is permitted in five of the 50 states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire (effective January 1, 2010 in NH).

In California, same-sex marriages were performed between June 16, 2008 and November 4, 2008. These marriages are still recognized, in addition, same-sex marriages from other states or foreign countries performed on or before November 4, 2008 are recognized as well.

A separate bill was heard in a U.S. Senate committee, on Thursday, regarding employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or "gender-related" mannerisms. The bill, known as the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009" is a top priority for President Barack Obama, according to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez.

"That's really an essential protection we need on the national level," said Leslie Gabel-Brett, the director of education and public affairs for Lambda Legal, a gay-rights group, in regards to such non-discrimination protection.

Supporters of same-sex marriage have long argued that the prohibition of same-sex marriage is not so different from the past prohibition on interracial-marriage. When thinking of same-sex marriage, consider this -- in the past few decades, seemingly unapproachable issues such as women's or minority rights have become synonymous with "human rights" -- isn't it time that gay rights is included in that circle?

For information on how to reach your local officials, visit equalityfederation.org for state-by-state organization listings.  For NJ Residents, visit GardenStateEquality.org on how to reach Governor Corzine and other New Jersey officials.  Check out www.attorney.org to see how residents and attorneys are coming together to support the mission to legalize gay marriage in NJ.
 

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