Pacific Views

New Jersey Courts Grant Marriage Equality

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a brief primer on the court ruling that holds same-sex couples must be given access to the benefits of marriage, whether it's called marriage or not. The more comprehensive FAQ about the New Jersey case from the Human Rights Campaign explains what's at stake in the question of marriage rights:

On Oct. 25, 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided Lewis v. Harris, a case challenging the constitutionality of denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The court ruled that same-sex couples and their families have a constitutional right to the same benefits and protections that other New Jersey families take for granted.

The case was filed by Lambda Legal in 2002 on behalf of seven same-sex couples who were denied licenses.

... Although gay and lesbian couples will have equal access to the rights and benefits of marriage in the state of New Jersey, they remain ineligible for the 1,138 federal benefits that are afforded to married couples and their families, including the ability to collect Social Security survivor benefits and file a joint federal tax return. The Human Rights Campaign is working to remedy these inequalities in the U.S. Congress.

What the plaintiffs in this case wanted weren't 'special' rights nobody else could get, they're benefits commonly available to heterosexual couples for the rock-bottom cost of a marriage license and a bit of time with a Justice of the Peace. They only want the state to recognize the families they choose to create, just as happens when a woman and man choose to be family to each other and get married. They want what nearly everyone else can get, regardless of depth of feeling, length of courtship or strength of commitment. A man and a woman can get married as part of a game show even if they were strangers beforehand, but two women or two men can live and raise children together for years and be denied recognition for their family in the eyes of the law.

The question isn't whether or not society is going to have gay families. There are already gay families. The question is whether or not they can have the same rights that are extended to our other families, the free legal protections, the decreased economic burdens. The question is whether or not the law will continue to punish them for having a loving, consensual relationship with another adult.

You can go here for state-by-state rights reports and legislative scorecards. AmericaBlog has more on why this is both a win and a loss, going into the separate-but-equal structures the New Jersey decision allows the legislature to set up.

Posted by natasha at October 25, 2006 10:58 PM | GLBT | Technorati links |