newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ADELE SAMMARCO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Democrats say its time to legalize same-sex marriages in the Garden State and are willing to go to battle with Republican Governor Chris Christie over this hot button issue they say is a matter of civil rights.

Then Democratic Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill into law in late 2006 allowing civil unions in the state of New Jersey. And while the state's current Governor has since come out in support of civil unions, Christie has stated in the past that he will veto any legislation that would legalize same sex marriages.

In 2010, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) of Gloucester, helped defeat a same sex marriage bill by 20-14, and the Assembly declined to take it up.

Sweeney now calls his past vote a “terrible mistake”, and counts at least 21 backers of the bill out of the 40-member Senate, including Republican Senator Jennifer Beck of Red Bank, who did not support the bill two years ago.

“This is about doing what’s right and ensuring full equal and civil rights for all New Jerseyans,” Sweeney said in a statement release Monday. “Two years ago, I made a mistake in abstaining on marriage equality, a mistake that means same-sex couples continue to be denied the very basic civil right to live their lives as they wish. But today isn’t about me correcting my mistake. It’s about correcting a mistake for thousands of loving couples across the state who want nothing more than to be treated equally as their neighbors.”

Meantime, gay-marriage opponents are already gearing up for battle, warning the legislation's passage is not quite yet a done deal.

The Star Ledger reports Len Deo, President of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, an advocacy group lobbying against the bill as saying, “I don't think this is a slam dunk. There's going to be quite a battle."

The National Organization for Marriage and the New Jersey Knights of Columbus groups have also voiced their opposition.

However, supporters of the same sex marriage bill say the current civil union law, is just simply not working and not in tune with the 21st century.

In a news release, State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) of Mercer, stated, "Opinion polls show that the majority of Americans, and the majority of New Jerseyans, favor marriage equality for same sex couples."

After researching two state polls and six national polls, NJ.com reports PolitiFact New Jersey as finding Gusciora's statement is mostly on target, citing public support for same-sex marriage in New Jersey and across the nation as being on the rise.