This excerpt is from the NY Times:
The State Senate on Thursday rejected a proposal that would have made New Jersey the sixth state in the nation to allow marriages involving same-sex couples. The vote was the latest in a succession of setbacks for advocates of gay marriage across the country. After months of intense lobbying and hours of emotional debate, lawmakers voted 20 to 14 against the bill, bringing tears from some advocates who packed the Senate chambers and rousing applause from opponents of the measure, who also came out in force.
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With the effort to win legislative approval now dead, supporters of same-sex marriage vowed to focus their efforts on the state’s highest court, which in 2006 ordered lawmakers to give same-sex couples the same rights as others whether or not they called such unions marriages. The Legislature responded by enacting a civil unions law, but gay-rights leaders say that the measure still leaves them subject to discrimination when applying for health insurance or trying to visit partners in hospitals, and that they will ask the court to grant them equal treatment. “Even our opponents in the Legislature acknowledge that the civil-union law has not provided equal protection,” said Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, who has led the lobbying for the past six years and wept as the bill’s sponsor, Senator Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck, introduced it. The defeat in New Jersey, which has widely been viewed as one of the nation’s most socially tolerant states, was a significant setback for advocates of gay marriage. (Kocieniewski, New York Times)
To read the full story go here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/nyregion/08trenton.html
My comment: Well, it would appear that we are still in the dark ages folks. Perhaps some people will now consider a state like Mississippi be just as intolerant as New Jersey. Or is it New Jersey as intolerant as Mississippi?
See the link that shows New Jersey following Mississippi's lead from 2004:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/2004-11-02-ms-intiative-gay-marriage_x.htm
Of course it is always reassuring to see New Jersey following the lead of such a notoriously intolerant state like Mississippi when it comes to civil rights. (read sarcastic)
Recommended viewing: The movie "Mississippi Burning" had to do with racial discrimination but this is illustrative as to what can happen when you have discrimination of any kind under the law or in pratice.
Here is the IMDB link to the movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095647/
Share your thoughts below...... ◦
