New Jersey Residents Support Marriage Equality--But Won't Get It Soon

A new poll shows that a majority of New Jersey residents support marriage equality of the state's gay and lesbian families. But the political realities--including an incoming Republican governor who has stated his opposition to marriage parity for same-sex couples and a Democratic state legislature uneasy about taking on tough social issues--probably mean that New Jersey's gay and lesbian families won't be enjoying legal marriage soon.

The poll was released by Rutgers-Eagleton on Nov. 19, reported an article posted that same day at NJ.com. The results of the survey showed that just under half--46 percent--of New Jersey residents support marriage equality.

But the margin was slim: another 42 percent opposed legal parity for same-sex couples, and 12 percent weren't sure where they fell on the issue.

"While this tests opinion outside the intensity of a campaign to ban gay marriage, as occurred in California, there is more of a 'live and let live' attitude in New Jersey than in many other states that have dealt with this issue," said the survey's director, David Redlawsk, a Rutgers University professor of political science.

If the state's lawmakers were to use the remaining weeks of current governor Jon Corzine's tenure to pass marriage equality, the poll showed that over half--52 percent--of the state's residents would take it in stride. Significantly fewer residents would want marriage equality banned through adoption of a constitutional amendment; only 40 percent indicated that they would opt for that tactic as a means of reversing marriage equality, as happened last year in California and earlier this month in Maine.

Redlawsk noted that the state's voters are not an obstacle to marriage equality in New Jersey. "There will be a strong reaction from opponents, but for the most part, opponents actually see this as a less important issue than do supporters. And interestingly, about half the undecided respondents would accept legalizing gay marriage, while only 18 percent would support some kind of ban, suggesting that they are not a potential source of opposition to a gay marriage bill."

Though GLBT equality advocates hope to see lawmakers address marriage equality in the upcoming lame-duck session--the last session before Corzine steps aside and Governor-elect Chris Christie begins his term--a separate Nov. 19 article at NJ.com indicated that it was unlikely, given the unease state lawmakers have about the socially touchy issue.

State Senator Steven Sweeney said that the upcoming session should be devoted to fiscal issues. But marriage equality supporter and State Senator Loretta Weinberg, who would have been Corzine's lieutenant governor had he been re-elected, told the media that a bill she has sponsored to extend family parity to the state's same-sex families needn't be neglected, if the political will is there. "We have the ability in the Legislature to talk about this bill and address the economic crisis at the same time," said Weinberg. "I received commitments from the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as from Majority Leader Sweeney that they would allow this bill to move forward. It will be a disappointment to so many in the grassroots of our party as well as to me personally if this commitment is not honored."

But time is short, and if the bill does not make it to Gov. Corzine's desk, there seems little point in sending it to Gov.-Elect Christie, who had already said that he would veto it. Moreover, Christie favors amending the United States Constitution so that no same-sex American family could legally enter into matrimony.

Meantime, New Jersey has become the new focus for out-of-state interests such as the anti-gay group the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which took a leading role in promoting Proposition 8 in California last year. That ballot initiative, which barely squeaked by at the ballot box, took marriage rights away from California's same-sex families. A later court decision upheld the 18,000 same-sex marriages that had taken place before the vote, but allowed the anti-gay amendment to stand, barring subsequent marriages.

A Nov. 18 NowPublic article noted that NOM had poured around half a million dollars into a campaign to eradicate marriage rights in the handful of states where they currently exist. Meantime, Garden State Equality has conducted a series of "emergency action meetings" in New Jersey, collecting around $50,000 toward efforts to usher in marriage equality despite politicians' hesitation and the ticking clock.