Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), called Friday's ruling legalizing gay marriage in New Jersey “another outrageous example of judicial activism.”

Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled that the state must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. However, she made her ruling effective October 21, allowing time for Governor Chris Christie to appeal and block implementation of the order. Christie, a Republican, said through a spokesperson that his administration would appeal the ruling.

(Related: New Jersey judge orders state to allow gay couples to marry.)

“This is another outrageous example of judicial activism,” Brown said in a blog post. “An activist judge has overreached her authority and chosen to impose same-sex 'marriage' on the entire state of New Jersey.”

“Judge Jacobson has trampled on the right of the people of New Jersey to define marriage, a right that the Supreme Court has upheld in the very case she misuses to redefine marriage,” Brown said, referring to Windsor v. United States.

Justices in the Windsor case knocked down as unconstitutional a statute that prohibited the federal government from recognizing the legal marriages of gay couples. Plaintiffs in the New Jersey case argued that the state's law is similarly unconstitutional. Judge Jacobson agreed.

“Same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in order to obtain equal protection of the law under the New Jersey Constitution,” she wrote.

“This is a gross abuse of power that cannot be allowed to stand,” Brown carped as marriage equality advocates came tantalizingly close to victory.