New Jersey Enacts Strong Same Sex Civil Union Legislation
TRENTON-Today, December 14, 2006, the New Jersey Legislature took a giant step forward towards equality for all its citizens by passing Assembly Bill A3787 and Senate Bill S2407. These identical bills establish civil unions for same sex couples in New Jersey and call for the establishment of a New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission. This action is in compliance with the constitutional mandate required by the NJ Supreme Court in the recent Lewis v. Harris decision, and is anticipated to be signed into law by Governor Corzine before the end of the year.
Barbra Casbar, president of the NJ Stonewall Democrats stated: “We applaud Assembly Speaker Pro-Tempore Wilfredo Caraballo, D-29, and Senators Loretta Weinberg D-Bergen and Richard Codey D- Essex for their leadership in sponsoring the strongest civil union legislation in the country. It should be noted that no onerous or class demeaning wording is in this legislation and that it also contains a provision for a Civil Union Review Commission. This commission will study the effectiveness of the new law and provide a mechanism for improving it! New Jersey Stonewall Democrats further applaud the Democratic State Committee and the Democratic Legislative leadership for their strong stand on opposing any attempt to codify discrimination in the NJ State Constitution!” added Ms. Casbar.
A key provision of this bill calls for the establishment of a 13-member Civil Union Review Commission that would study the effectiveness of civil unions, collect information from the public, and evaluate similar statutes in other states. Members of the Commission would be comprised of the NJ State Attorney General, the NJ State Commissioners of Health, Human Services, Banking and Insurance, as well as children and families. Ms. Casbar asserted “more importantly, the panel also will include seven bipartisan civilian members whose input will be invaluable. This commission will be the beating heart of the new law because it will be the mechanism for modifying and improving it.”
NJ Stonewall Democrats understand that “marriage” is the only currency that Americans understand. We believe that true equality will only be achieved when gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex citizens have the same access to enter a civil marriage contract as our heterosexual brothers and sisters. However, we are encouraged by the strong words of support from many of our Democratic leaders, including Senators John Adler and Loretta Weinberg and Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Caraballo that this legislation is only a step forward toward, albeit a giant step forward for equality, and they will continue to advocate and work for 100% marriage equality as an achievable goal in the foreseeable future.
New Jersey Stonewall Democrats, an affiliate of the National Stonewall Democrats, are New Jersey’s only grassroots Democratic LGBTI organization. NJSD is committed to electing fair minded Democratic candidates to public office by maximizing Democratic voter support and turnout in our communities.
Barbra “Babs” Casbar |
Robert “Bob” Bresenhan, Jr. V. P. Legislative & Political Affairs |
LINKS
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New Jersey Democratic State Committee
LGBTI Community
Gender Rights Advocaty Association of New Jersey
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