New Jersey superior court judge orders state to allow same-sex marriage

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/27/new-jersey-gay-marriage-court-ruling

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New Jersey has been ordered to allow same-sex marriages after a judge ruled that its system of civil unions violated the state's constitution.

Judge Mary Jacobson issued the order on Friday after a long-running litigation brought by gay couples against the state. The ruling means same sex couples will be able to marry from 21 October in New Jersey.

"These couples are now denied benefits solely as a result of the label placed upon them by the state," Jacobson wrote in a 53-page opinion explaining her decision.

She said civil unions did not carry the same weight as marriage because they were not recognised at federal level.

The state attorney general's office, which has defended the lawsuit, must now decide whether to appeal against Jacobson's ruling and ask for a stay.

If the judge's ruling stands New Jersey would become the 14th state to permit gay marriage.

The case is one of the first examples of how the supreme court's decision in June to invalidate the federal law defining marriage as being between a man and a woman has altered the legal landscape for gay marriage advocates.

In Friday's ruling, Jacobson accepted the argument of gay couples that the state is blocking citizens from receiving federal benefits because it refuses to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The supreme court ruled in June that the Defence of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, effectively extending federal benefits to married same-sex couples. Jacobson's ruling said that because those couples could not marry in New Jersey they were being discriminated against, in violation of the state constitution's equal protection requirements.

New Jersey's top court ruled in 2006 that gay couples had to have the same legal rights as married couples. Same-sex couples in New Jersey presently can enter into civil unions.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie is opposed to gay marriage, but his administration has not said yet whether it will appeal. Christie vetoed a bill that would have legalised gay marriage in 2012 but finds himself in a tricky position as a Republican governor in an overwhelmingly Democratic state.

A Quinnipiac poll in July found that New Jersey voters support same-sex marriage by 60 to 31%. Christie is said to be eyeing a run for president in 2016, however, and having recently overseen the passage of same-sex marriage into law would not be seen favourably among the ultra-conservative primary voters.

<em>The Associated Press contributed to this report</em>

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