The World Only Spins Foward
December 18, 2006: In another sign of progress, New Jersey is added to the list of states legally recognizing gay partnerships.
This is from New Jersey.com.
New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved the civil union bill, putting same-sex couples within a pen’s stroke of acquiring the rights and benefits of marriage.
At the same time, Governor Corzine and powerful legislators declared that after a law is in place, they would be open to an amendment granting gay activists what they have sought: the word “marriage” itself.
Corzine has said he intends to make the bill law, but he indicated he could take days, even weeks, to review Thursday’s legislation.
“We’re going to do a study, as we do on all legislation, to make sure what we’re getting is what we intended to get,” Corzine said. “We don’t want to make a mistake that ends up harming individuals because we did something too quickly.”
State law gives him 45 days to sign or veto a bill that clears the Legislature. If approved, the civil union bill would go into effect 30 days later.
In the Assembly the measure passed 56-19; in the Senate it was 23-12.
Just recently, South Africa passed an equal marriage law. Which means that South Africa - South Africia - now leads the US in civil rights! Although if you live in NJ, at least you get some of the legal protections of marriage. And maybe even the word itself.
This is what progress looks like, people.