Members of the North Brunswick Township Council have approved a
resolution which calls on New Jersey to legalize gay marriage.
New Jersey is one of four states which recognize gay and lesbian
couples with civil unions. The other three are Illinois, Hawaii and
Colorado. While Illinois and Hawaii are considering moving to full
marriage, Colorado lawmakers cannot do so, due to a constitutional
amendment excluding gay couples from marriage.
Last year, Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, vetoed a
marriage bill approved by lawmakers, and he has defended the state's
marriage laws in an ongoing legal challenge.
(Related: Chris
Christie administration says gay couples should sue the federal
government.)
At a July 29 meeting, Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack said that he
had asked Township Attorney Ron Gordon to draft the resolution. It
was approved during an August 5 public meeting.
The
resolution reads in part: “[T]he Mayor and Township Council
hereby respectfully request that the New Jersey State Legislature
enact a bill in the State of New Jersey legalizing gay marriage in
the State of New Jersey.”
“I have had an opportunity to perform several civil union
ceremonies,” Womack said during the July meeting. “My feeling
and opinion of everything is that New Jersey is a little out of step
with neighboring states. I would like to see this move forward with
the state to enact a gay marriage bill.”
Womack said that he was inspired by the Supreme Court ruling
striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibited
the federal government from recognizing the legal marriages of gay
couples.
The lone opponent of the resolution, Councilwoman Cathy Nicola,
said that she would prefer putting the issue to a public vote.
“This is something that should be put forth to the residents of
our state,” she said.