NJ Church Pushes for Marriage Equality

The Star-Ledger profiles Kevin Taylor, pastor of Unity Fellowship Church, a predominantly African-American and gay congregation in New Brunswick, N.J., that is leading the drive for marriage equality.

Taylor, who is also a producer for Black Entertainment Television, seeks to turn his eight-year-old church, one of 12 in a nationwide movement, into a political force for marriage equality in the Garden State, according to the Newark-based Star-Ledger.

"The political mission of Taylor's parish has become the legalization of same-sex marriage in New Jersey," Star-Ledger reporter Mary Fuchs writes. "For its members, the church is a place of both worship and possibilities -- if rows of metal chairs lining a plain room in a medical building can become a sanctuary, why can't prayers become reality?"

Unity Fellowship helped to raise $20,000 for marriage equality in a telephone fund-raiser this fall, according to the newspaper.

Supporters and opponents of gay marriage are in Trenton today pressing their cases with state legislators, who returned for the lame-duck session.

Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, has pledged to sign a marriage equality bill if lawmakers pass one. Governor-elect Chris Christie, who takes office in January, has vowed to veto the bill.