Gay Marriage in My State? The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled yesterday that the State must accord same-sex unions the same rights as married heterosexuals are given. They left it up to the Legislature to decide how to achieve that — within 180 days! — and whether the word "marriage" should apply or only an alternative term such as "civil union".
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I hope New Jersey doesn't play any silly games with "marriage". If it walks lilke a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a marriage. I don't see that this Blue State should avoid giving offense to "Red"-necks by eschewing the word "marriage". Massachusetts didn't avoid the word. Is Massachusetts more honest or True Blue than New Jersey? I hope not.
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Alas, I do not have anyone to marry, at present, and I'm not meeting much of anyone. But it would be nice to be able to marry, legally, in my state of birth. (I wouldn't in any case seek out a religious wedding unless it could be held in Manhattan's Saint Patrick's Cathedral or, perhaps better, Newark's Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which tho less famous and thus less likely to grab big publicity for the cause, is bigger than Saint Pat's, taller than Notre Dame, and a Basilica (a papally designated special church) to boot, not just a cathedral).
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Gay and lesbian New Jerseyans should urge their legislators in Trenton to do the state proud by calling gay/lesbian marriage "marriage". If that offends rightwingers in the South, who cares? They don't spend any time or money here. Most rightwingers who aren't too poor to visit New Jersey would have no interest in doing so. If they want to gamble, they go to Biloxi, Mississippi, where they feel more at home. We have nothing to lose by being True to Blue.
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(The current U.S. military death toll in Iraq, according to the website "Iraq Coalition Casualties", is 2,810 — for Israel.)




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- posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 2:45 PM