CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Knowing they had few rights as a couple, Marty Finkle and Mike Plake hired a lawyer to draft four documents--including a will and a health care proxy--that are supposed to protect the other person if one gets sick or dies. Starting July 1, Finkle and Plake will need just one piece of paper to legally prove their relationship. That's when New Jersey's domestic-partnership law takes effect, giving gay couples the right to make medical decisions for each other and to file joint state tax returns. But these are still not even close to the rights married couples get. "I am thrilled that we have taken this step, but it's almost like having to go to separate water fountains," said Plake, 41, from the cozy two-story home the couple share. "I'll never be satisfied with just this." While many of the state's gay couples support the state's domestic-partnership law, the debate over same-sex marriage looms as legal challenges continue in courtrooms across the country. For now, gay and lesbian couples are focusing on the state's domestic-partnership law, which they say will at least provide guidelines for how gay partners can live as a family unit. Civil rights groups have praised New Jersey's leaders as progressive and fair-minded in passing the law. "It puts New Jersey as one of the leading states that recognize same-sex couples should be treated with the same equity compared to married couples," said Seth Kilbourn, national field director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization. For Veronica Hoff, a 49-year-old state worker, it means that if she is rushed to the hospital with brain swelling as she was seven years ago, her partner, Forest Kairos, won't be left in the dark. At the time doctors wouldn't even speak to Kairos, 32, or let her see Hoff. The new law will allow gay couples to visit each other in a hospital when family or spouses would typically be allowed in. "People are struggling and trying their best to deal with day-to-day issues that marriage laws were created in order to resolve," Hoff said. "You have a whole class of people that were left without any sort of real framework." To obtain domestic-partner benefits, same-sex couples would have to show they live together and provide proof of joint financial or property ownership. They could also name their partner as a beneficiary in a will or retirement plan. Same-sex partnerships granted in other states will be honored by New Jersey. The law will also provide legal benefits for unmarried straight couples over age 62. Couples will be able to register for partnership status at any municipal office in the state. To end a partnership, a divorcelike proceeding in superior court would be required. Some of the excitement for the domestic-partnership law diminished for many gay couples when they saw local officials across the nation defy laws by marrying same-sex couples. From gay activists in Washington, D.C., to same-sex couples in small towns across New Jersey and the rest of the country, nearly all agree that gay marriage is the ultimate goal. Gay activists say the fight for gay marriage will go on. "I can't tell you what it means both emotionally and legally for my partner and me to be recognized in the eyes of the state," said Steven Goldstein, the New Jersey campaign manager for gay rights group Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. "But those who thought the domestic-partnership law would be enough to assuage the gay and lesbian community are gravely mistaken."
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Here Are Our 2024 Election Predictions. Will They Come True?
November 07 2023 1:46 PM
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
17 Celebs Who Are Out & Proud of Their Trans & Nonbinary Kids
November 30 2023 10:41 AM
Here Are the 15 Most LGBTQ-Friendly Cities in the U.S.
November 01 2023 5:09 PM
Which State Is the Queerest? These Are the States With the Most LGBTQ+ People
December 11 2023 10:00 AM
These 27 Senate Hearing Room Gay Sex Jokes Are Truly Exquisite
December 17 2023 3:33 PM
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
42 Flaming Hot Photos From 2024's Australian Firefighters Calendar
November 10 2023 6:08 PM
These Are the 5 States With the Smallest Percentage of LGBTQ+ People
December 13 2023 9:15 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Biden will hammer Trump over abortion bans in Florida speech
April 23 2024 5:00 AM
Tristan Snell, who brought down Trump University, sees conviction in hush money case
April 22 2024 7:36 PM
Joe Biden admin marks Earth Day with major environmental initiatives
April 22 2024 4:18 PM
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: 'We want to end' trans and gender nonconforming teachers
April 22 2024 4:13 PM
Nonbinary 17-year-old killed two years after being reported missing
April 22 2024 3:46 PM
Pride
Yahoo FeedIndulge in luxury and sensuality with The Pride Store’s Taurus gift guide
April 22 2024 11:46 AM
The gay man leading the Earth Day Initiative offers hope for the future
April 22 2024 9:00 AM
Pattie Gonia takes drag and fierceness to Capitol Hill to voice environmental concerns
April 22 2024 8:23 AM
Jodie Foster leaves her mark in cement at L.A.'s Chinese Theatre
April 22 2024 7:55 AM
Climate change has a bigger impact on LGBTQ+ couples than straight couples. Here's how
April 22 2024 7:42 AM