New Jersey lawmakers are considering a
measure that would enshrine same-sex marriage into state law.
A same-sex marriage bill approved by
the New Jersey Legislature was vetoed by former Governor Chris
Christie, a Republican, in 2012.
Gay and lesbian couples won the right
to marry in New Jersey in 2013, when the New Jersey Supreme Court
refused to hear a lower court ruling that struck down as
unconstitutional state laws that define marriage as a heterosexual
union.
Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court
in Obergefell found that gay couples have a constitutional
right to marry.
According to NJ.com, New Jersey
lawmakers are likely to vote on the measure during the upcoming lame
duck session that ends on January 11.
Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, a Democrat
from Hudson, is a sponsor of the bill. He told NJ.com that marriage
equality is under threat as the Supreme Court reviews laws in Texas
and Mississippi that severely restrict a woman's access to abortion.
“It underscores the need for us to
take a look at this and move on this right now because there's an
actual threat,” he
said.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney
supports amending state marriage laws to include gay couples.