Six Months Of Civil Unions In NJ 'Failure' Group Says

Posted: August 16, 2007 - 11:00 am ET

(Trenton, New Jersey) New Jersey marks the six-month anniversary of the civil unions law this Sunday and the state's largest LGBT civil rights organization says it has been a failure, something the average person in the state seems to agree with according to a new poll.

Last October the state Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples must have the rights as opposite-sex married couples but left it to the legislature to decide whether that should be done through marriage or civil unions.

Lawmakers chose civil unions, and gay and lesbian couples married in areas where same-sex marriage is legal, were regarded as in a civil union in New Jersey.

The law went into effect in February.

Since then, despite the law mandating equality for people in civil unions with those in opposite-sex marriages, there has been mounting evidence there remains a deep divide between the way the two groups are treated.

In June a commission to examine the effectiveness of the civil union law, created when the legislature passed the bill, was told the law is a failure.

Nearly one in eight couples who have had civil unions have been turned down for company health benefits for their partners according to Garden State Equality.

When completed the commission will deliver its report to the Legislature. It is generally expected the report will call for the legalization of same-sex marriage in New Jersey.

That likelihood is supported by a majority in the Garden State according to a Zogby Poll released this week.

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said they would not be upset if the legislature upgraded the term civil union to marriage. Only 31 percent were opposed.

In addition, 61 percent said they expected the state to enact marriage equality within just a couple of years. Only 29 percent of the voters polled said they thought lawmakers would reject the idea.

Moreover, 72 said a positive vote for marriage equality would not endanger lawmakers up for reelection. A slim 21 percent said it would.

"Regardless of whether any public official supports marriage equality or wants to maintain the state’s failed civil unions law," said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality, "no official in New Jersey can credibly say that marriage for gay couples is a divisive issue in the state. Even voters who oppose marriage equality are ready to accept an upgrade of the state’s civil unions law to real marriage equality."