TRENTON — Gay couples have the right to marry under the state constitution, the state Supreme Court ruled today, making New Jersey the second state in America to legalize same-sex marriage.
"Only rights that are deeply rooted in the traditions, history, and conscience of the people are deemed to be fundamental. Although we cannot find that a fundamental rightto same-sex marriage exists in this state, the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our StateConstitution," said the ruling, written by Associate Justice Barry Albin.
"With this state's legislative and judicial commitment to eradicating sexual orientation discrimination as our backdrop, we now hold that denying rights and benefits to committed same-sex couples that are statutorily given to their heterosexual counterparts violates the equal protection guarantee of Article I,
Paragraph 1.
"To comply with this constitutional mandate, the Legislature must either amend the marriage statutes to include same-sex couples or create a parallel statutory structure, which will provide for, on equal terms, the rights and benefits enjoyed and burdens and obligations borne by married couples.
"We will not presume that a separate statutory scheme, which uses a title other than marriage, contravenes equal protection principles, so long as the rights and benefits of civil marriage are made equally available to same-sex couples. The same to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to same-sex couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process."
Personally, I agree with the Court. Why shouldn't homosexual couples be allowed to get married? What is so fundamentally wrong with this? From a state -- not religious -- point of view, who cares if they get married? From a state point of view, the definition of marriage as between a man and a women is either lifted from religious prescriptions or from out dated society norms that discriminated against homosexuals. New Jersey, like many states, already provides domestic partner benefits to same sex couples. So what is so unique about marriage?
With a staggering number of marriages ending in divorce (50%???), marriage is not the sacred union it once was. Moreover, at a 50% divorce rate, it does not seem like gay marriage will destroy marriage -- beyond the point of destruction it is already at. If these couples truly love each other and want to spend their lives together, than why not give them the chance?
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