NJ Gov. Vetoes Marriage Redefinition Bill

Special Report - February 20, 2012
New Jersey will not be the eighth state in the nation to enact a marriage redefinition law unless homosexual activists in the state can get a two-thirds majority of lawmakers to override the governor’s veto of a bill redefining marriage that was narrowly enacted by lawmakers last week. Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) followed through on his promise to veto the “Marriage Equality and Religion Exemption Act” on Friday, February 17, only one day after the New Jersey Assembly approved the bill by a 42 to 33 vote. The New Jersey Senate had approved the measure a few days earlier. The legislation would redefine marriage in New Jersey as the “legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship.”

In addition to vetoing the bill, Gov. Christie expressed his support for sending the issue of the definition of marriage to the people of New Jersey in the form of a marriage amendment. “I have repeatedly encouraged and continue to ask that the Legislature to trust the people of New Jersey and seek their input by allowing our citizens to vote on a question of same-sex marriage,” Gov. Christie said in his veto statement. “This path of amending the State Constitution…is the only way to resolve the issue of same-sex marriage in our State.”

In related news, the Maryland House of Delegates passed a marriage redefinition bill by a vote of 72 to 67 on Friday. The measure, HB 438-Civil Marriage Protection Act, now heads to the Maryland Senate, which approved a similar bill last year. Governor Martin O’Malley (D-MA) has promised to sign the marriage redefinition bill if it is enacted by the Maryland legislature. However, pro-family advocates have vowed that if the bill is enacted, they will work to gather enough signatures to get a referendum on the ballot this November to give voters the opportunity to reject the law. “The people of Maryland will decide this issue if they have to, just as voters in 31 other states have done,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), in a statement.

Last week, the state of Washington became the seventh state in the nation plus D.C. to pass a law to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. As we previously reported, that law does not take effect until June, and pro-family groups in the state have filed a referendum that would give the citizens of Washington the opportunity to decide the fate of the law at the ballot box in November. If they can gather the necessary signatures for the referendum before then, the law would not take effect unless the people vote to accept it.

Related Resources:
Marriage Battle in WA State Not Over - February 16, 2012

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