Monday, September 30, 2013



Equality wins in New Jersey

The New Jersey State Superior Court has applied United States v. Windsor to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage:

A New Jersey judge ruled on Friday that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry, saying that not doing so deprives them of rights that were guaranteed by the United States Supreme Court in June.

[...]

“The ineligibility of same-sex couples for federal benefits is currently harming same-sex couples in New Jersey in a wide range of contexts,” Judge Mary C. Jacobson of State Superior Court in Mercer County wrote on Friday. “Same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in order to obtain equal protection of the law under the New Jersey Constitution.”

There will be an appeal, of course - but given the Supreme Court's ruling, its going to fail, and the bigots had better start getting used to it. The US Constitution guarantees equality under the law for all, and finally the courts are making it clear that it means what it says.

The full judgement is here [PDF].