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Report Finds Problems With NJ Gay Unions
Saturday, February 16, 2008
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - 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.
The civil union law sought to give gay couples those benefits, but not the
title of marriage. As a part of the same law, the review commission was
created to look into whether it was working.
Gay rights advocates say the civil unions do not deliver and have pledged to
push lawmakers to vote to allow marriage. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has said he
would be willing to sign such a bill into law but doesn't want the issue to
be taken up before the presidential election in November.
The activists say civil unions, in practice, do not offer the legal
protections that marriage does. The commission largely agreed with them.
The commission held three public hearings last year at which the majority of
the testimony came from people who were in civil unions and said they were
still not being treated the way married couples are by government agencies,
employers and others.
For instance, the commission found that many companies in the state that are
self-insured _ and therefore are regulated by federal, rather than state,
law _ refuse to provide health insurance to the partners of their employees.
While employers in Massachusetts could legally do the same thing, most do
not, according to the report.
The commission also finds that many people in the state do not understand
civil unions, which create a "second-class status."
The commission's report says the misunderstanding of civil unions makes it
more difficult for a child to grow up in New Jersey with gay parents, or to
be gay themselves.
Through Jan. 19, 2,329 couples had received civil union licenses, according
to the state Health and Senior Services Department.
Some social conservatives have said the commission is slanted in favor of
allowing gay marriage, and opponents of gay marriage have been pushing back
in New Jersey.
Roman Catholic churches around the state have been planning special prayers
on marriage for Sunday. A major aim is to promote marriage as being between
only a man and a woman.
A conservative Princeton group, the National Organization for Marriage, has
aired radio commercials that say allowing gay marriage would undermine some
religious teachings that homosexuality is wrong.
Report Finds Problems With NJ Gay Unions
Saturday, February 16, 2008
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - 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.
The civil union law sought to give gay couples those benefits, but not the
title of marriage. As a part of the same law, the review commission was
created to look into whether it was working.
Gay rights advocates say the civil unions do not deliver and have pledged to
push lawmakers to vote to allow marriage. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has said he
would be willing to sign such a bill into law but doesn't want the issue to
be taken up before the presidential election in November.
The activists say civil unions, in practice, do not offer the legal
protections that marriage does. The commission largely agreed with them.
The commission held three public hearings last year at which the majority of
the testimony came from people who were in civil unions and said they were
still not being treated the way married couples are by government agencies,
employers and others.
For instance, the commission found that many companies in the state that are
self-insured _ and therefore are regulated by federal, rather than state,
law _ refuse to provide health insurance to the partners of their employees.
While employers in Massachusetts could legally do the same thing, most do
not, according to the report.
The commission also finds that many people in the state do not understand
civil unions, which create a "second-class status."
The commission's report says the misunderstanding of civil unions makes it
more difficult for a child to grow up in New Jersey with gay parents, or to
be gay themselves.
Through Jan. 19, 2,329 couples had received civil union licenses, according
to the state Health and Senior Services Department.
Some social conservatives have said the commission is slanted in favor of
allowing gay marriage, and opponents of gay marriage have been pushing back
in New Jersey.
Roman Catholic churches around the state have been planning special prayers
on marriage for Sunday. A major aim is to promote marriage as being between
only a man and a woman.
A conservative Princeton group, the National Organization for Marriage, has
aired radio commercials that say allowing gay marriage would undermine some
religious teachings that homosexuality is wrong.
