NJ State Commission: Civil Unions Fail Gay Couples

[WillParkinson]

(Mount Laurel, New Jersey) A commission established to study same-sex civil unions in New Jersey has found in its first report that civil unions create a "second-class status" for gay couples, rather than giving them equality.

The report stops short of recommending that the state allow gay marriage. But it does find that gay couples in Massachusetts, the only state that now allows same-sex marriage, do not experience some of the legal complications that those in New Jersey do.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the initial report, which was scheduled to be made public Tuesday, the first anniversary of the state's first civil unions.

State lawmakers made New Jersey the third state to offer civil unions with a law adopted in 2006 in reaction to a state Supreme Court ruling that year that found gay couples were entitled to the same legal protections as married couples.


More: http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/02/021708nj.htm

[Creideiki]

1. My biggest issue with nomenclature

I'd be perfectly happy if everyone's "marriages" became Happy Bunny Feet, or whatever they want to call them. But if the nomenclature is different, then instead of a finality that says that all Americans have the same rights, we'll be constantly fighting every new right that will be offered to "marriages" over the "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships" that the second-class citizens get instead.

[hulklogan]

2. It took a state commission to figure this out?

I could have come up with the same conclusions in fifteen minutes!

[theHandpuppet]

3. Just what I was thinking

I wonder how many GLBT folks were on that commission. All that had to do was interview one gay couple and thay'd have saved a pile of money and a shitload of precious time.

Of course, they aren't recommending gay marriage as a solution, either -- they're just telling us what we KNEW ALREADY!!!!

[LostinVA]

4. The Commission was stacked with Pro GLBT Rights people

The Anti-GLBT people here went bonkers over that fact. The Commission was a good thing, and they did state that the language needs to be changed to "marriage." The rights are EXACTLY the same for me and Haruka as they are for, say, her mother and stepfather. However, the language gives a "loophole" to certain people.

This morning, the news reported that the Governor will change the law to state "marriage," but only after the November election -- so it can't be used as grist.