New Jersey to take on gay marriage fight next

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | November 7, 2009 at 06:51 am

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Governor Corzine was eager to sign a gay marriage bill into legislation. Newly elected Christie says he would favor a federal amendment banning gay marriage nationally.

Now gay advocates are in a race to January, trying to take advantage of the time Corzine has left in office.

The battle over gay rights will move to New Jersey and the federal government, advocates said, after Tuesday's narrow rejection of same-sex marriage by Maine voters in a hard-fought contest.
The Democrat-controlled legislature in New Jersey, which currently recognizes same-sex couples in civil unions, is under pressure to pass a bill authorizing gay marriage before Gov. Jon Corzine ends his term in mid-January.

Mr. Corzine, a Democrat unseated in Tuesday's election, said he would sign such a bill. His successor, Republican Chris Christie, opposes same-sex marriages.

"New Jersey is at the very top of our list, and it's going to happen in the next few weeks if it happens at all," said Maggie Gallagher, the president of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriages. "They're doing it in a lame duck, because it's as far away from an election as possible."