NJ Legislators to Fast-Track Marriage Equality Bill

New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney and House Speaker Sheila Oliver announced on Jan. 9, that they will fast-track and prioritize legislation that would end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage in New Jersey.  

“Freedom to Marry is proud to partner with Garden State Equality and New Jersey’s tremendous legislative leaders, Senate President Sweeney and House Speaker Oliver, as we work together to make New Jersey the next state to end the exclusion of gay couples from marriage," said Freedom to Marry’s National Campaign Director Marc Solomon. "What New Jersey’s legislative leaders are telling us clearly today is that the Garden State values its gay and lesbian citizens fully, and does not accept treating same-sex couples and their families as second class citizens, as it presently does with civil unions."

Following the 2006 passage of civil union legislation, the 2008 New Jersey Civil Union Commission concluded there was “overwhelming evidence that civil unions will not be recognized by the general public as the equivalent of marriage in New Jersey with the passage of time.” It recommended enacting marriage in its place.

The House and Senate bills (respectively numbered A. 1 and S. 1) are expected to be taken up early this year.  The numbering of the bills reflects the importance which the legislative leaders are giving to the effort.

"Marriage matters for same-sex couples and their families, both because it says we’re a family through thick and thin in a way that nothing else does, and because it provides a critical safety-net of protections that civil unions do not,” said Solomon


To follow Freedom to Marry's Roadmap to Victory visit FreedomToMarry.org.