The battle for marriage equality is heating up again in New Jersey. A coalition of national groups are pooling their efforts to get the state to formally approve marriage equality, which a majority of residents already support. Joining in the push are the American Unity Fund, the Gill Action Fund, Freedom to Marry, Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal, along with Garden State Equality and the ACLU of New Jersey. The groups are counting on financial backing from the same Wall Street types who were successful in getting New York to pass its marriage equality law.
The “New Jersey United For Marriage” campaign will focus on overriding Gov. Chris Christie‘s veto of a bill that passed last year. To do that, equality supporters will have to peel away three state senators and 12 assembly members and get them to change their votes. Supporters are counting on legislators to reconsider because of the changed landscape as a result of the Supreme Court rulings on marriage equality.
The campaign promises to run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. “We will make sure things will be well-funded, and they will be well-funded in New Jersey,” said David Tepper, a hedge-fund manager, told The Wall Street Journal.
The biggest hurdle to overcome is Christie. It’s fair to say that Christie is the sole reason why marriage equality isn’t the law in the state. When he vetoed the marriage equality bill passed by the state legislature, he said he didn’t think “121 people in Trenton” should make that decision. (So much for supporting our representative form of democracy.) In what looked like an effort to bolster his credentials with the right, Christie called the Supreme Court decision striking down DOMA “judicial supremacy.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Yet Christie can only hold the line against marriage equality for so long. New Jersey residents support marriage equality at a higher rate than any other state where it is currently not legal. Ultimately, he’s playing a losing game. One sign is the presence in the battle of the American Unity Fund, which is a GOP-led group with deep pockets, or exactly the type of folks Christie would otherwise be cultivating. In the meantime, though, expect a high-profile, pricey campaign that will pit Christie against the wishes of the majority of resident in his state.
Dakotahgeo
I believe Christie is also aware that if he loses this ME battle, his chances at running for President have hit a brick wall. If his own state is battling him, the country is likely to follow. Of course, Christie IS a Republican… he doesn’t learn very well from past mistakes either. That will be his downfall.
Joetx
If Christie thinks that one’s sexual orientation is a “choice,” then so is eating yourself into obesity. He should therefore support legislation depriving obese people of their civil rights.
If Christie doesn’t think that one’s sexual orientation is a “choice,” then he’s a contemptuous jerk.
Either way, he’s a big, fat a-hole.
hyhybt
“The biggest hurdle to overcome is Christie.”—Not another joke about his girth.
StephK
As a resident of the Garden State I am partically disgusted that Christie should put
his national ambitions and delusions over the legislative will and the equality of
N.J. taxpaying citizens.Christie’s impulsive and unfiltered response to the SCOTUS
decisions show him not to be intelligent enough not to have painted himself into
a corner.He knows he is on the losing side of this issue, but has placed more
importance on the voters of Iowa than the citizens of the N.J.. Christie serves
Christie first and foremost, he and is unfit to serve as governor let alone
president.
2eo
If this is about marriage equality why post a picture of the worlds ugliest Manatee?
ncman
Christie is waiting for either the people (via vote) or the NJ Supreme Court put marriage equality in place so that he can tell the right wing that it wasn’t his doing when he runs for president in 2016.
The NJ Supreme Court has ALREADY RULED that NJ must provide ALL the benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. They allowed the legislature to make the decision of how to do it and the legislature initially did it with Civil Unions.
Now that DOMA is dead and “married” couples get federal benefits, civil unions are no longer 100% equal to marriage in NJ. There will be a hearing in the NJ Supreme Court in August to review this. It should be a no-brainier for the NJ Supreme Court to FORCE marriage equality on the state whether Christie likes it or not. But, it won’t bother him because he will be able to blame it on the court and say he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
MikeE
@2eo: remember, they’re an endangered species.
andy_d
He also vetoed a raise in the minimum wage for New Jersey workers.
An a-hole is an a-hole.
Just sayin’
MK Ultra
The picture looks like it should have the tag line “see how many doughnuts you can shoot in my mouth!” Of course, that’s porn for someone like Christie.
trelin
I really don’t think Christie cares that much about whether Marriage-equality passes in his state. He just doesn’t want to pass it. He needs to keep his pockets full of GOP money so if he attempts his Presidential run, he’ll have backers. If the state votes its conscience and roots for equal rights, then I believe he’ll have a hard time denying us that.
Didn’t he say, after vetoing the first attempt, that it should be decided by the people of the state? Putting equality to a vote is disgusting, but if it gets us Marriage-equality, I’ll make sure my ass is in that voting booth.
StephK
@trelin: Taking it to the voters after the legislature has already approved a bill is just Christie’s way of avoiding signing the bill he has been sitting on. The man is a coward.He is afraid to face the national G.O.P. as the governor on whose watch marriage equality was made into state law. Definately no profile in courage is he.
StephK
@ncman: This is exactly what Christie is praying for…a summary judgement by the SCONJ to invalidate civil unions in favor of marriage.In this way, he can claim marriage equality was forced on the state by the court and he had nothing to do with it. He is probably fervently praying a novena to St. Jude for such an outcome.
Kangol
@2eo:
That manatee was able to get married, and could get divorced and married 10 times over without blinking an eye and with the complete support of the state of New Jersey and the USA.
He knows what he’s doing is wrong, discriminatory and hateful, but since he thinks it’s winning him points with the dying-off national GOP, he’s going to do it.
He is beyond disgusting, and I wish the national legacy media would stop giving him a pass based on his temporary “bromance” with Barack Obama. He has NOT been a good governor of New Jersey on many levels.
1EqualityUSA
Mark Zuckertwat supports this fool.
Daniel-Reader
He needs a nickname… something villainous… how about The Bloat.
gary47290
The governor is desperately hoping the legislature keeps to their p.c. insistence on purity, because this delays the issue until after his run for the White House, and keeps liberal voters at home in a low turnout off year share election. They should go on the offensive, hold their noses, and put up a marriage vote as a wedge issue to help defeat Christie in his re-election race this fall.
1EqualityUSA
The bloat…hmmm. (Hamburglar?) Cap’n Fold? The Disturbance? (electrolyte) …U.S.S Bigot? “The Bloat”…ok… His campaign saying, “Bloat for me.” He’ll keel in the Oval and let the sickening side-kick Vice president take the reins. Theocracy on the Supreme Court!!!!
Atomicrob
As someone originally from New Jersey, I believed it would be one of the first states to embrace marriage equality. It is filled with an overflow of Manhattan-like progressives who need some greenery and don’t want to pay the NYC rents, not that North Jersey is all that cheaper. Enter Crusty Christie and we have the other NJ… The lower midde class loudmouth who insinuates his way into places where he doesn’t belong. Christie is a hypocrite with aspirations to higher office. Anyone who has the guts – and we know he does – to label the end of DOMA as “judicial supremacy” while he single-handedly strips away the civil rights of countless NJ residents is an outrageous dolt on the wrong side of the issue.
krystalkleer
yea Christie will go down in flames…or maybe become one…who knows…if he goes against the ME…get with the program for Christie sakes…or get off the pot…no one is listen’n to THOSE right wing sanctimonious “CASPER crusaders” sh*t anymore!
http://getoffmydress.blogspot.com/2013/07/doma-r-e-got-ta-go.html
Caliban
Kinda ironic that someone shaped like a lobulated butt-plug should be so opposed to gay marriage.
Teleny
He’s disgusting on so many levels.
Kieran
I live in New Jersey and definitely support gay New Jerseyans being allowed to marry. However, I think New Jerseyans should be allowed to vote in a referendum on whether morbidly obese people like Christie should be allowed to legally marry.