Marriage Equality: A Message to Christie

Proponents of marriage equality have a simple message for Gov. Chris Christie: Sign the bill.

The in New Jersey by a 24-16 margin and the Assembly is expected to follow suit Thursday. That literally will put the issue on Gov. Christie’s desk this week.

The governor has promised a veto—something couples like Louise Walpin and Marsha Shapiro of Monmouth Junction believe shows a failure of leadership.

“What I’d like to say to him is that it is very sad that Gov. Christie is choosing to use his power to deprive people of the very same civil rights he enjoys,” Shapiro told me Tuesday.

“I’d like to ask him for a meeting and let him hear our story so he knows that he’s dealing with human beings and not a piece of paper that he’s writing ‘veto’ on,” Walpin added.

Walpin and Shapiro, who have been together 23 years, are among seven couples who have . The civil union law promised an array of rights and protections that have never materialized, the suit says, and same-sex couples remain without the kind of workplace benefits and legal protections that heterosexual married couples have.

That's the issue in a nutshell. The status quo, i.e., civil unions, was created because the state Legislature failed to show leadership when the same-sex marriage issue was put on its plate by the state Supreme Court in 2006. Then Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, a Princeton resident, noted that in her eloquent dissent at the time.

"We must not underestimate the power of language," she wrote. "Labels set people apart as surely as physical separation on a bus or in school facilities."

The state, she said, was "perpetuat(ing) prejudice about differences" and declaring "that it is legitimate to differentiate between their commitments and the commitments of heterosexual couples."

Poritz, a Republican appointee to the court, had it right five and a half years ago. A continuence of the status quo does nothing more than perpetuate a second-class status for gay and lesbian couples, one the governor seems willing to maintain via his veto threat.

Because of that, Walpin and Shapiro say, the governor is on the wrong side of history. Seven states and the District of Columbia have now approved same-sex marriage, with Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire signing it into law there on Monday. Like New Jersey, Maryland also is considering granting marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Democrat who represents Lawrence and the Trenton area in the state Assembly, commended Gregiore and Washington legislators “for having the fortitude to stand up and do what's right.”

“In a true display of courage and conscience,” he said in a statement posted to the Assembly Democrats’ Web site, “they put aside political differences to break down the biggest barrier to inequality for same-sex couples.”

Gusciora, one of two openly gay members of the state Legislature, is sponsor of the Assembly version of the same-sex marriage bill.

“This is what true leadership looks like and I applaud everyone who displayed the courage to stand up against injustice,” he said about Washington state. “It's gratifying to see this same display of courage play out in the corridors of Trenton today as well. I look forward to the General Assembly following suit on Thursday and hope Gov. Christie will find it in him to heed this call of conscience."

Gov. Christie said last month that marriage equality should be placed on the ballot—as it will be in Maine—and state Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman has introduced legislation that would create a New Jersey ballot initiative. Bateman, a Republican whose district includes South Brunswick, Princeton and Hillsborough, describes himself as a supporter of equal rights, but voted against Senate bill S1 on Monday. He supports a referendum because it would give everyone a chance to be heard and because it is likely to be the quickest way to get to equality.

“Marriage equality advocates and opponents would both have the ability to register their opinion at the ballot box,” Bateman said in a Feb. 9 statement. “Nobody would be disenfranchised on either side of the issue.”

Bateman, in an interview on Tuesday, said that marriage-equality supporters need to be cognizant of the role that Christie will play. He has nearly two years left in his term and could win another four years in office, meaning the legislative route could be blocked for some time.

"I'm a supporter of equal rights," he said. "I'm not sure if it matters what the process is, but that we get there.

"This is quicker and we can finally put the issue to bed. If it passes, it is done. And knowing the governor's position, this is a better route."

Gusciora, in an interview on Tuesday, accused Bateman of "playing poliical games."

"He wants to put a civil rights issue on the ballot that is not appropriate to be decided by the whims of the public," he said. "If he is a supporter of equal rights, he should understand the Madisonian principle that government has to guard the minority against the whims of majority. All he has to do is vote for (S1) and urge the governor to sign off, and then we can move on to more pressing concerns."

Walpin and Shapiro said a referendum is a terrible compromise.

“No civil rights issue should be put out in a referendum,” Shapiro said.

They pointed to the fallout of the California Proposition 8 referendum, which saw $83 million spent and pit neighbor against neighbor, as something that New Jersey should not seek to repeat.

Prop 8, which reversed a California court ruling and made same-sex marriage illegal, has been overturned in two separate court decisions, including one last week. The case is expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The couple said they met with Bateman and told him that, though they are confident the state would support marriage equality were it on the ballot, the campaign would be too damaging to the state.

“It would just be so divisive,” Shapiro said.