Brian Brown, president of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM), on Monday expressed disappointment
over New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's decision to withdraw an
appeal to a ruling legalizing gay marriage in the state.
Christie, a Republican who has said
that he supports the state's civil unions law but not marriage for
gay couples, dropped the appeal as gay couples began marrying on
Monday after the state Supreme Court refused to delay the lower
court's ruling.
(Related: Chris
Christie drops gay marriage appeal.)
“There's no question that the courts
of New Jersey are responsible for the imposition of same-sex marriage
in that state, and we sharply criticize them for redefining our most
important social institution with no regard to the wishes of voters
or even elected officials,” Brown
wrote in a blog post. “The refusal of the New Jersey Supreme
Court to order a stay of the same-sex 'marriage' ruling was wrong,
and the latest example of an activist judiciary running amok,
substituting their views for those of the people of the state.
Still, we are extremely disappointed in Governor Chris Christie for
withdrawing the state's appeal of the underlying decision,
effectively throwing in the towel on marriage. The mark of a leader
is to walk a principled walk no matter the difficulty of the path.
Chris Christie has failed the test, abandoning both voters and the
core institution of society – marriage as the union of one man and
one woman.”
Brown added that the decision would
sink Christie's presidential aspirations.
“Regrettably, Governor Christie's
decision to surrender on marriage reveals him to be a man who lacks
the courage of his supposed convictions,” Brown said. “As far as
we are concerned, it's a disqualifying failure. His surrender on
marriage effectively surrenders any chance he might have had to
secure the GOP nomination for president.”