12/11/2008
NJ Report: 'Overwhelming Evidence' Civil Unions Inferior to Marriage
In February I posted about a report put together by the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission that was causing governor Jon Corzine to have doubts about the effectiveness of civil unions in achieving equal rights for the state's citizens.
Yesterday, the final report was released:
"The final report of the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission says it gathered 'overwhelming evidence' that the civil union law not only fails to provide the same protections as marriage, it also has created economic, medical and emotional hardships for gay couples. The commission concluded that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is as unjust as government imposing racial segregation laws against African-Americans. 'Separate treatment was wrong then and it is just as wrong now,' said the report, obtained by The Star-Ledger yesterday. The 79-page report is the work of a 13-member panel created to evaluate the impact of the 2006 civil union law, which was supposed to provide the rights and responsibilities of marriage under another name. It will be forwarded to Gov. Jon Corzine and the Legislature."
Focus on the Family is AFTER THE JUMP...
Panel: N.J. should OK same-sex marriages [star ledger]
Posted 11:23 AM EST by Andy Towle in Gay Marriage, New Jersey, News | Permalink
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Woo!
It's all common sense, of course, but it's important to have it all in black and white for those who cannot grasp the obvious.
Posted by: ichabod | Dec 11, 2008 12:23:08 PM
I'm pleased with the progress NJ is making. It will be upsetting if NJ does this before NY -- the disfunction of the NY State legislature is breathtaking.
Posted by: Anonymous | Dec 11, 2008 12:29:26 PM
Absolutely, but thank god someone is looking at FACTS and EVIDENCE in all this.
I have seen literally hundreds of posts this year on the net saying "so it's just a word, it doesn;t mean anything, take your unions and be happy" -- all the while ignoring that "marriage" means MANY things, legal things, rights things.
Go NJ !!!
Posted by: Strepsi | Dec 11, 2008 12:33:49 PM
OMG is the NJ commission saying that Gay is the New Black? Surely NOT, they did not clearly tie the AA Civil Rights struggle with the Gay Civil Rights struggle did they? No that must have been a misprint. So, is it the New Black or not. Gheezuz this is getting all so convoluted. Can't Civil Rights struggles all be treated as Civil Rights Struggles?
Posted by: Sargon Bighorn | Dec 11, 2008 1:29:00 PM
Sargon,
I don't believe that NJ Commission said anything about gay being the new black at all.
I believe that they were pointing out the separate treatment (gay get CUs and straight get marriage) is not equal, a concept that we should have already learned from the AA civil rights movement. It is a nuance but an important one.
Posted by: Ed | Dec 11, 2008 1:50:31 PM