TRENTON, N.J. (ABP) — The first New Jersey gay couples to enjoy the same rights as married couples had their civil unions recognized by that state Feb. 19.
The state's law recognizing the unions, passed Dec. 14, went into effect Feb. 19. After midnight, same-sex couples lined up in municipal offices across the state to apply for union licenses.
Most of them will have to wait three days — just like heterosexual couples — to receive their licenses and formalize the action with a commitment ceremony. But, according to an interpretation of the law announced Feb. 16 by Attorney General Stuart Rabner, same-sex couples married or civilly united in other states could have their relationships recognized immediately.
According to the New York Times, New Jersey's first legal civil-union ceremony took place at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 19 in Teaneck, between Steven Goldstein and Daniel Gross. Goldstein — who heads a statewide gay-rights group — and Gross had already entered into a civil union in Vermont.
Vermont became the first state in the Union to recognize civil unions for gay couples in 2000. Connecticut approved civil unions in 2005. The District of Columbia, California and many municipal governments across the country allow gay couples to register as domestic partners but without all the benefits and responsibilities that accrue to married couples.
Massachusetts remains the only jurisdiction in the United States that offers marriage to gays on the same basis as heterosexuals.
The New Jersey law came in response to an October ruling by that state's Supreme Court. The panel was unanimous in saying the New Jersey Constitution required that gay couples be offered the same rights as married couples. However, the justices were divided over whether legislators had to use the term “marriage” for same-sex relationships.
The ruling angered both conservatives and gay-rights activists. Some conservatives labeled the civil unions “counterfeit marriage.” Meanwhile, some supporters of same-sex marriage argued that offering gay couples marriage rights but not the right to the term “marriage,” created a separate-but-equal status for New Jersey gays.
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New Jersey passes civil unions with same rights as marriage (12/15)