New Jersey Court: Gay Marriage or Civil Unions

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that gay couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals, but that it is up to the state's legislature to decide if those equal rights should come in form of gay marriage or some other form of civil union.

The high court stopped short of fully approving gay marriage and gave lawmakers 180 days to rewrite marriage laws to either include gay couples or create new civil unions.

Steven Goldstein, the chairman of the gay-rights group Garden State Equality, said the court’s decision was disappointing.

"Those who would view today’s ruling as a victory for same sex couples are dead wrong," he said. "Half-steps short of marriage — like New Jersey’s domestic-partnership law and also civil union laws — don’t work in the real world."

In their ruling, the justices wrote that "times and attitudes have changed" and that "there has been a developing understanding that discrimination against gays and lesbians is no longer acceptable" in New Jersey.

However, the justices also wrote that their mission in this case was a narrow one.

"At this point, the Court does not consider whether committed same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, but only whether those couples are entitled to the same rights and benefits afforded to married heterosexual couples," the court wrote.

"Cast in that light, the issue is not about the transformation of the traditional definition of marriage, but about the unequal dispensation of benefits and privileges to one of two similarly situated classes of people."

The justices went on to say that this case and other federal cases cited by the plaintiffs "fall far short" of establishing a fundamental right to marriage, which is an institution the court termed "deeply rooted in the traditions, history, and conscience of the people of this state."

"Despite the rich diversity of this state, the tolerance and goodness of its people, and the many recent advances made by gays and lesbians toward achieving social acceptance and equality under the law, the Court cannot find that the right to same-sex marriage is a fundamental right under our constitution," the court wrote.

But the court also said that denying same sex couples "the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose."

Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, who is retiring from the New Jersey high court today, said the majority didn’t go far enough, and that gay couples have the "fundamental right to participate in a state-sanctioned civil marriage," according to Bloomberg News.

She and two other justices concurred in part and dissented in part with the majority opinion written by Justice Barry Albin.