PHILADELPHIA - New Jersey's high court stopped just short of legalizing gay marriage Wednesday, ruling that same-sex couples deserve the same rights as heterosexual ones, but punting the specifics to the Legislature.
Lawmakers have six months to expand the definition of marriage to include gay and lesbian couples or to come up with another term that carries the same weight.
The ruling resembles a 1999 Vermont Supreme Court decision that resulted in "civil unions" for same-sex couples. The Vermont court allowed lawmakers to reserve the term "marriage for the union of one man and one woman, but it required legislators to give gay and lesbian couples the same rights as married couples.
"Although we cannot find that a fundamental right to same-sex marriage exists in this state, the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our state constitution," Justice Barry T. Albin wrote for the New Jersey Supreme Court's majority.
No comments:
Post a Comment