New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on
Tuesday told a voter at a campaign stop that he's willing to discuss
gay marriage but that his mind is made up on the issue.
Marriage equality supporters are
lobbying hard to find the 10 votes (7 in the Assembly and 3 in the
Senate) needed to override Christie's 2012 veto of a marriage bill
before the January deadline.
As Christie, a possible 2016 Republican
candidate for president, pressed the flesh at the Edison Diner, Bert
Bueno, a straight woman, asked: “How come you're in opposition?”
“Listen: Lots of different people
have different views on this,” Christie is quoted as saying by The
Star-Ledger. “I think marriage is between a man and a
woman.”
“My view is: If you want to change
it, put it on the ballot. Let everybody decide.”
Bueno disagreed, stating that the issue
was different from gun control or taxes.
“It's a human rights issue,” she
said.
“Says you,” Christie responded.
Bueno asked the governor whether he
would sit down with a group of gay couples to “really see how this
is affecting them.”
“I have relatives who are gay. I
have friends who are gay. I think I have an understanding. … The
fact is: I'm open to having conversations with anybody, but I don't
think it's going to change my point of view,” Christie answered
before moving on to the next table.
(Related: Large
majority of New Jersey voters favor judge's ruling legalizing gay
marriage.)