For the first time ever, the New Jersey legislature has approved same-sex marriage — but the state’s governor summarily vetoed it.
The Assembly passed a marriage-equality bill in a 42-33 vote Thursday, and Republican Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the measure the following day. The Senate had approved the bill in a 24-16 vote earlier in the week.
Christie billed his veto as a “conditional” one, in that he recommended the creation of an ombudsman to manage complaints from same-sex couples experiencing discrimination under the current civil-union law.
While announcing his veto, Christie reiterated his support for putting the question of marriage equality to voters.
Senate President Steven Sweeney called the governor’s action “a shameful act hidden behind the guise of a public referendum. He firmly planted his feet on the wrong side of history.”
Assembly Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski noted that the nation’s “shining moments were when our leaders stood up for the civil rights of our citizens and our shame was when our leaders stood in the way. Sadly, our governor has chosen to stand in the way, but I remain confident that our day will come.”
Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality, said he has a cordial relationship with the governor and, while he contended that Christie does not “have an antigay bone in his body,” he said the veto was a “brutally antigay act, pure and simple,” one that he suggested was motivated by the governor’s alleged presidential aspirations.
The veto does not mean a definitive end to hopes for marriage equality in the Garden State — the bill can be brought back up for a veto override vote before the end of the current legislative session, which wraps up in January 2014.
To reverse Christie’s decision, supporters will need 27 favorable votes in the Senate and 54 in the Assembly.
Despite the daunting task, Goldstein hailed the historic vote Thursday.
“Since Stonewall, we have been on a 40-year journey toward our freedom,” he said. “Today, the legislature has brought us to the edge of the promised land. We know the governor won’t let us enter, but we finally behold the view of our dreams and we will never turn back.”
Goldstein’s agency and seven same-sex couples, represented by Lambda Legal, are also pursuing marriage equality through the court system in a case that argues the current civil-union law fails to provide equal rights to gay and lesbian couples, an order mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006.
As that suit continues, Goldstein said, activists will also work to muster enough votes to override Christie’s veto.
“We are exuberant advocates but also methodical strategists,” he said. “To win an override, we will take the time we need, assisted by a changing world. Look how the world changed since the last vote two years ago.”
Just this month, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, Maryland is fast-tracking its marriage-equality bill through the legislature and Washington became the seventh state, in addition to Washington, D.C., where same-sex marriage is legal.