As you know, the state Senate votes Thursday on the marriage equality bill – it’s the vote of a lifetime. Please join us Thursday in Trenton at 10:30 am or earlier. This email is to suggest what you can do on Wednesday, including how to call your own state Senator. Please read this whole e-mail; it has lots of important information. Before we get to calling your Senator on Wednesday, an update on Thursday’s logistics. When you come to Trenton on Thursday, please wear your blue EQUALITY The American dream t-shirt from the last few weeks’ Garden State Equality events at the State House. It’s more important than ever. Our opponents have started wearing their own red anti-marriage equality t-shirts. If you don’t have one of our t-shirts, we’ll give you one free on Thursday. But we don’t have many left, so please wear one if you have one. On Thursday, please meet us in front of the State House at 10:30 am or earlier – many of us will be there earlier organizing the day and we’d love your help. You can park at the Trenton Marriott, 1 West Lafayette Street. Please note – unlike most of our previous events, we’re not meeting first at the Garden State Equality office across from the State House. We’re meeting right in front of the State House, 125 West State Street. On Thursday, we’ll meet legislators until the Senate votes in the afternoon. Immediately after the Senate votes, Garden State Equality invites you to join us at a news conference and FREE pasta dinner reception at the Trenton Marriott, which is a short walk from the State House. Our volunteers will lead you from the State House to the Marriott. Now here’s what you can do on Wednesday: We say this so many times, it must sound like a cliche. Our apologies. But it really is true: The best way for us to get a crowd – and we want our biggest crowd ever for the Senate vote – is for you to forward our emails to everyone you know. There is simply no better way to organize in big numbers. So on Wednesday, please forward this email to as many people as possible. On Wednesday, please call your own state Senator. It’s so important. Visit www.gardenstateequality.org/officials/call.html, where you can enter your zip code and find out whom your Senator is, as well as his or her phone number and email. When you’re at that portal, please click on state officials, not federal officials. When you see the name of your state Senator, call the phone number at his or her district office, not State House office. Senators and their staff will be at their district offices on Wednesday. Also at that portal, we provide tips for calling your Senator. The only tips to ignore there are those which tell you to ask for a meeting. The vote is Thursday – you just want to express your view right on the phone. On Wednesday, after you’ve called your state Senator, if you have time, consider emailing him or her. Visit www.gardenstateequality.org/officials/emailmarriage.html, where we have pointers for what you can include in your email. Again, don’t worry about asking for a meeting. Finally, if you have time during the day on Wednesday to volunteer at any of our Garden State Equality offices, we’d love you to join us. We have offices in Montclair, Trenton, Asbury Park and Collingswood. The addresses for the four offices are at www.gardenstateequality.org/contactus.html. If you have any questions about volunteering, please call our co-field director Dani Bernstein at mobile (909) 561-3738. Thank you from the heart for all you do. We have the greatest members in the world and we appreciate you all so much.
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NJ: Rally Thursday in Trenton at The Statehouse
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010NJ: Final Effort for Gay Marriage Vote
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Gay-rights advocates in New Jersey made what could be a last-ditch push yesterday to persuade lawmakers to legalize gay marriage quickly. At a time when lawmakers are calling the issue a matter of conscience, activists have been pushing the idea that some religious leaders are accepting of same-sex marriage.
“It’s not about religion,” said the Rev. Joseph Harmon, pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Jersey City. “People who won’t want to do it for religion reasons don’t have to.”
A group of about 150 clergy of various faiths sent lawmakers a letter making a similar argument and asking them to support gay marriage.
Full Story from the Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100105_N_J__rally_backs_gay_marriage.html
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: Gay Marriage Supporters Ask for Thursday Vote
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010A contentious gay marriage bill in the New Jersey Legislature will face a major obstacle to passage on Thursday, January 7, if its sponsors get their way. Democratic Senators Loretta Weinberg and Raymond Lesniak have asked Senate President Richard Codey, a Democrat from Essex, to hold a floor vote on the bill Thursday.
Democrats control the Senate with two votes to spare but remain divided on the bill.
The bill was punted back to the Senate on New Year’s Eve when Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, a Democrat from Camden, said he had heard enough on the bill and was prepared to put the bill up for a vote without a committee hearing but added that the Assembly would not go first in voting for the measure.
Full Story from On Top Magazine: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5068&MediaType=1&Category=26
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: Assembly Speaker Refuses to Take Up Gay Marriage Bill Again
Friday, January 1st, 2010In a setback for same-sex marriage in New Jersey, a bill to legalize it will not get an Assembly hearing on Monday. WNYC’s Bob Hennelly has this update.
REPORTER: In a statement released on New Year’s Eve, outgoing Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts said the marathon public hearing on the bill, held in early December by the Senate Judiciary Committee, was sufficient. That committee narrowly approved the marriage equality measure.
Roberts did say that if the full Senate passes the controversial bill, he’ll allow an up-or-down vote on it by the full Assembly before the end of the current session. That’s when Governor Corzine leaves office, and he’s pledged to sign the bill.
Full Story from WNYC: http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/147371
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: No Sign of Gay Marriage on the Agenda
Thursday, December 31st, 2009The push to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey could fail without a vote being cast in the Legislature. While the likelihood of a vote has yet to be determined, opponents of gay marriage are preparing to declare the measure dead while advocates insist there’s still time to pass a law before the governor switch next month.
Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, says he’d sign the bill if lawmakers can get it to his desk while he’s still in office. At noon Jan. 19, he’ll be replaced by Republican Chris Christie, who says he would veto the bill.
Gay marriage is recognized in four states: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont. A law to legalize it in New Hampshire takes effect Friday. The Washington, D.C., City Council voted last month to legalize gay marriage, but that law is still subject to congressional approval.
Full Story from the Courier Post Online: http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20091231/NEWS01/912310331/1006
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: Dissolving a Civil Union Takes Longer, Costs More Than Divorce
Thursday, December 31st, 2009For same-sex couples unhappy in their civil unions, breaking up is hard to do. For starters, ending a civil union is called “dissolution,” not “divorce,” and legal experts say the difference between those two words has created confusion over which laws and cases apply to civil unions.
“You end up with one set of rules for one thing and another set of rules for another thing,” said Stephen Hyland, 56, a family practice lawyer in Cherry Hill who represents gay clients.
Lawyers familiar with the issue also say it’s harder to divvy up assets or assign alimony because there’s virtually no case precedent for ending civil unions and divorce precedents are not always applied to dissolutions. Sorting out the unions then can take longer and cost clients more than it would if they were ending a traditional marriage.
Full Story from NJ.com: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/nj_gay_couples_looking_for_a_c.html
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: Grandmother Pushes for Gay Marriage Vote
Saturday, December 26th, 2009Loretta Weinberg, the Democratic senator from Teaneck, has less than a month to get a same-sex marriage bill on the governor’s desk. And if she fails? She’ll wait. Try again. For Weinberg, it tends to work.
Her needle-exchange legislation, drafted to prevent the spread of disease among intravenous drug users, took 15 years to become law. A ban on indoor smoking, 10 years. A reduced blood-alcohol limit to define drunken driving, 10 years. “I’m an eternal optimist,” she says. “If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be in this business.”
The sunlight in her Teaneck office is strong, nearly blinding, and Weinberg shifts behind her desk, nods toward a darkened conference room. She recalls the moment she became a grandmother, six years ago, when her son-in-law phoned from the delivery room and broadcast the infant’s cries. Weinberg herself began to weep, right in front of her guests, a group that was supporting her domestic-partnership bill.
Full Story from NorthJersey.com: http://www.northjersey.com/news/80125387.html
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: Gay Marriage Bill Dead?
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009Legislation that would grant gays and lesbians the right to marry in New Jersey appears dead. It’s a question of arithmetic. At least four of the state Senate’s 23 Democrats are expected to vote against the legislation, leaving it two shy of the 21 votes needed to get it through the Senate. That means two Republican votes are needed for the Freedom of Religion and Equality in Civil Marriage Act to pass.
It has to pass both houses of the Legislature — it appears to have the votes in the Assembly — and get to Gov. Jon Corzine’s desk before his successor, Christopher Christie, takes office on Jan. 19. Mr. Christie has said he will veto the legislation.
State Sen. Bill Baroni, a Hamilton Republican who represents parts of Mercer and Middlesex counties, voted in favor of the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will do so again if the bill ever makes it to the Senate floor. Expectations were that at least one moderate Republican — one of the five others who backed the state’s civil unions bill — would join Sen. Baroni on the right side of history.
Full Story from CentralJersey.com: http://centraljersey.com/articles/2009/12/22/opinions/doc4b31590dcd59f799453819.txt
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: 5 Moderate Republicans Will Not Vote for Gay Marriage
Saturday, December 19th, 2009Five moderate Republican state senators who have been under pressure to support gay marriage said yesterday that they would not vote for a bill allowing same-sex couples to wed in New Jersey. Instead, they favor strengthening and enforcing the state’s civil-union law, which they said gives gay and lesbian couples the benefits of marriage without the title.
Advocates for same-sex marriage say civil unions confer a status that is separate and not equal. Opponents say the Legislature should not alter the traditional definition of marriage.
“I really appreciate their recognition that civil unions are not working and do not provide equal protection under the law,” said Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D., Union), a cosponsor of the gay marriage bill. “I think we can convince these well-intentioned senators that separate can never be equal.”
Full Story from Philly.com: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/79707947.html
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
NJ: Asbury Park to Pass Gay Marriage Resolution
Thursday, December 17th, 2009City Council members said Wednesday night they plan to approve a resolution in support of marriage equality, possibly as soon as a special meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 24 on an unrelated matter. “I think this is part of the path forward,” Mayor Ed Johnson said Wednesday.
Once passed, Asbury Park would become the fourth municipality in the state to support gay marriage.
Previously, Maplewood, Red Bank and South Orange endorsed marriage equality, said Steven Goldstein, chairperson of Garden State Equality, the organization lobbying hard for the state marriage equality bill, now expected to see its next action in January.
Full Story from APP.com: http://www.app.com/article/20091216/NEWS/912160408/Asbury-Park-set-to-OK-gay-marriage-resolution
Click here for gay marriage resources in New Jersey.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
