GAY MARRIAGES IN NEW JERSEY

Earlier this month a Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by 7 gay couples who sought to have their relationships recognized in New Jersey as a marriage.

The Judge said in her ruling that the legislature, not the courts should deal with this kind of a change in the laws governing marriage. This Obviously different from today's Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that their State would have to recognize gay marriages.

While gay marriages are not coming to New Jersey anytime soon what is coming is domestic partner benefit legislation. Momentum seems to be building in the legislature to grant domestic partnership benefits either during the up coming lame duck session or after January when Democrats will control both the governorship and the State legislature.

The bill in the works would provide for hospital visitation and decision making rights, and inheritance tax exemption and spousal state income tax deduction. Partners of state employees also would receive health insurance and pension coverage and New Jersey would become the first state to require private employers to extend health insurance coverage to domestic partners if they already offer dependent coverage to spouses.

The bill under consideration would allow employers to pass along any additional costs to the new beneficiaries to be passed on to the applicant. To receive the benefits a couple would have to file an affidavit of domestic partnership with a local register and to end a domestic partnership the couple would have to pursue a divorce like proceeding in Superior Court.

While Governor Mcgreevey has said he supports domestic partner benefits the bill under consideration was recently pulled at the request of the governor to remove adult family members from the bill. This in response to concerns of many including the New Jersey business and Industry Association which had said it did not object to the requirement for same sex coverage but was concerned about the proposed legislation's inclusion, applying the standard to opposite sex couples living together. The fact that opposite sex couples have the option to marry and receive even more benefits than offered in the proposed legislation suggests this part may be pulled.

The inclusion of opposite sex benefits for such couples living together had been a ploy to make the legislation more politically palatable. That now seems unnecessary as most New jersey residents seem to understand that EQUAL RIGHTS ARE NOT SPECIAL RIGHTS.