An update from 365gay reveals that many New Jersey companies are either ignorant of or are refusing to recognize the state's new civil union laws:
“Nearly one in eight couples who have had civil unions have been turned down for company benefits [Garden State Equality's Steven] Goldstein said. Among the cases that have come to Garden State Equality, said Goldstein is one involving a woman who told her employer she and her partner had a civil union and was told by the company, ‘We're not going to provide benefits. We still need the word ‘marriage' and you two aren't married.' Goldstein said the couple have been together 16 years and have adopted three special needs children. ‘New Jersey should be celebrating such couples,' said Goldstein. ‘Instead, civil-unioned couples across New Jersey are still being denied equal protection of the law.' Goldstein said it is time the Legislature amended the law to provide for marriage.”
Added Goldstein, “For those who ask, ‘So long as same-sex couples get the rights, who cares what it's called?' the New Jersey experience has answered the question once and for all.”
