The New Jersey Assembly passed the marriage equality bill Thursday, promising to intensify the standoff with Governor Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto the measure.
The New Jersey Assembly passed the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act for the first time on Thursday afternoon in a 42-33 vote. The historic passage, following Senate approval on Tuesday, turns the spotlight to Governor Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto the measure once it reaches his desk.
The assembly passed the bill after two hours of debate about aspects of the issue including civil rights, the history of marriage, the state’s civil union law, and the prospect of putting a referendum before voters. A motion to send the bill back to committee failed, 44-31, about an hour into the discussion.
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, a bill co-sponsor and the first African-American woman to lead her chamber, called marriage equality “clearly a constitutional issue of equal access under the law,” in a floor speech that compared the issue at hand to interracial marriage bans of the past.
“The existing civil union law sends the same message to the public that we heard from Jim Crow segregation laws – that same-sex couples and their families are not equal to married couples in the eyes of the law,” said Oliver in a statement after the vote. “This legislation would provide everyone in this state – everyone – with the same respect and protections under the law. It eliminates the second-class citizenship status that same-sex couples presently face while protecting freedom of religion. These principles are part of the bedrock of our constitution and should not be dismissed summarily.”
The group of nine co-sponsors also included the chamber’s two openly gay assemblymembers, Reed Gusciora and Tim Eustace.
The Senate passed the bill for the first on Tuesday in a bipartisan 24-16 vote. Two Republicans supported the bill. The bill failed in a 20-14 vote in the Senate in 2010, but this year, leaders in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly made the bill their first priority.
Senate President Steve Sweeney, who abstained from the vote two years ago but championed the legislation this session, issued a statement that congratulated the Assembly and shifted the focus toward the governor.
"Marriage equality will happen in New Jersey,” he said. “The only question that remains is whether Governor Christie will be on the right or wrong side of history."
The bill now heads to Christie, who as recently as Tuesday promised “very swift action” to veto it. Pressure is likely to mount on the Republican governor from opponents and advocates, with national momentum building for marriage equality, as evidenced by last week's Prop. 8 ruling from a federal appeals court, a pending vote in the Maryland legislature, and the signing of the new law in Washington State this week. Washington governor Christine Gregoire, like Christie a Catholic, told The Advocate that she sent him a letter last month about her evolution on the issue and planned to reach out again after the New Jersey legislature passed the bill.
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