NJ Lawmakers Oppose Same Sex Marriage

Three Republican lawmakers filed a motion Monday to intervene and oppose a New Jersey lawsuit to secure same-sex marriage.

Senators Anthony R. Bucco and Gerald Cardinale, with Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, are being represented by Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian-based group that helped file the suit.

"There's more to marriage than just any two people in a committed relationship," ADF Senior Legal Council Austin R. Nimocks, said. "At this time in history, we should be strengthening marriage, not tearing it down. Instead, activists are seeking to redefine marriage for all New Jersey citizens by resurrecting an already-resolved, three-year-old lawsuit with the goal of forcing legislators to redefine marriage against their will. This renewed attack utterly dispels the myth that civil unions will appease such activists. Instead, they seek to use them as a legal springboard to redefine marriage."

Lambda Legal is representing six gay and lesbian couples and a surviving spouse in its challenge. The lawsuit claims civil unions are not equal to marriage, On Top Magazine reported.

"Civil unions are a failed legislative experiment in providing equality in New Jersey," Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director of Lambda Legal, said. "Marriage equality is the only solution."

Lambda Legal filed suit earlier in March after New Jersey senators defeated a same-sex marriage bill in January. The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously agreed it is unconstitutional to deny gay and lesbian couples rights granted to heterosexual couples and ordered the legislature to respond; Lawmakers produced a civil unions law.

Plaintiff's lawyers argue the legislature failed to meet the New Jersey Supreme Court's order.

Bucco, Cardinale and Carroll have publicly said they oppose giving gay couples the right to marry.