state-sanctioned unions … Jersey-style.
We don’t have too many things to cheer about these days. Oftentimes, we don’t even celebrate — recognize and reflect upon — the victories that we ought to.
In that vein, TAKE NOTE of what happened in Jersey. Quit thinking of it as the ‘armpit’ — be that of big-headed NYC or the country — and begin to recognize it as a part of the nation’s vanguard.
Note: refrain from snickers about ‘of course, this is Jim McGreevey’s state.’
For a few articles to get a better sense on what the ruling was, what the significance is:
Q&A from The Advocate;
[in Vermont] it’s not like they wrote a new law—they just wrote something that was parasitic on the existing marriage law. The New Jersey legislature could photocopy the Vermont law, change a few things, and they could make it work.
analysis from the NYTimes:
gay couples are entitled to the same legal rights and financial benefits as heterosexual couples, but split over whether their unions must be called marriage or could be known by another name, handing that question to the Legislature.
oh, and for the legalese from the Rutgers Law Library.