New Jersey state senators voted 24-16 to legalize gay marriage rather than submit the law to a popular referendum, setting the stage for a veto from Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J.
“We should not be in the business of legally sanctioning homophobia,” state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who co-sponsored the bill, said, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger. Weinberg seemed to acknowledge popular opposition to the bill, but she said the lawmakers should not “abdicate leadership and cut and run when the job gets hard.” The state senate refused, last week, to put gay marriage legalization on the ballot for a popular vote.
New Jersey currently provides civil unions to homosexual couples, but Weinberg argued that law is inadequate. “The word marriage is society’s universal civil and legal acknowledgment of a loving relationship,” she said, adding that “[w]ith enough votes, in the future, we can override the governor’s veto.” The New Jersey Assembly will likely pass the bill next week.
Only one state senator spoke against legalizing gay marriage during the Senate debate. “The essential characteristic of a marriage, the very definition of the term, is it involves at least one male and one female,” said Sen. Gerry Cardinale, R-Bergen. “Do not break with thousands of years of civilized tradition. This bill opens Pandora’s box.”
