Nice to see you again, Captain Obvious.
NJ State Commission: Civil Unions Fail Gay Couples - 365gay.com
(Mount Laurel, New Jersey) A commission established to study same-sex civil unions in New Jersey has found in its first report that civil unions create a “second-class status” for gay couples, rather than giving them equality.
The report stops short of recommending that the state allow gay marriage. But it does find that gay couples in Massachusetts, the only state that now allows same-sex marriage, do not experience some of the legal complications that those in New Jersey do.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the initial report, which was scheduled to be made public Tuesday, the first anniversary of the state’s first civil unions.
State lawmakers made New Jersey the third state to offer civil unions with a law adopted in 2006 in reaction to a state Supreme Court ruling that year that found gay couples were entitled to the same legal protections as married couples.
The civil union law sought to give gay couples those benefits, but not the title of marriage. As a part of the same law, the review commission was created to look into whether it was working.
Let’s see. Create a hastily-patched together substitute law that is supposed to act as a panacea - or at least a pacifier - so that you can try to look proactive, all the while waving in front of gay couples, “Nah-nah, we still found away around letting you get married, so even if we’ve given you almost everything you want, we’re still better!”…
…and then you’re surprised that it fails?
Next, you’re going to tell me that water is wet.
No, really?
One, any legislation made in such haste, especially one meant to affect so many areas of life, is going to have a few little problems…and some major screwups. Complications? In the United States legal system? Why, fiddle-dee-dee, said Scarlett!
Two, separate-but-equal does not work. It has never worked. It didn’t work in the days of segregation, and it doesn’t work now. Creating a separation based on human characteristics then and there invalidates the idea of equality, because if things were truly equal then the distinction would be unnecessary.
Either drop the farce and make separation of church and state a reality by making marriage a solely religious institution - and a matter of choice - while enforcing civil unions for all, or allow fully legalized gay marriage and recognize the equality of gay citizens. Don’t try to pull that “separate but equal” BS. You’re not fooling anyone, not even yourselves. So stop wasting taxpayer money to pat yourselves on the back for being “proactive”. You’re not.
Oh, and here’s a cluebat: if you need a commission in order to tell you if something is working or not, it’s not working.
Jesus.
Flippin’ idiots.
Who elected these people again?
New Jersey, gay marriage, civil unions, and water is not, in fact, truly wet; you are, when soaked in it.
Listen to DR Streaming Radio
February 19th, 2008 at 11:32 am
…Or better yet, pass an ERA already; kill two birds with one stone. Maybe then people will stop believing in “separate but equal” and whining that people really are different and have different needs, and no we can’t have a sensible policy that meets those needs we have to put people into nice neat categories to better discriminate agai–I mean, serve them.
…
And while I’m at it, I’d like a pony.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Quite animal farm.
Are we making wish lists? I’d like silver DSLite…
February 19th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
On the bright side, at least New Jersey has hopes of listening to their commissions and making some changes, unlike our friends at DC…
Or is that wishful thinking?
February 19th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Amen! It’s nice someone agrees with me that marriage should be an institution of the church only. As far as the state is concerned? Civil unions for all! It provides equality under the law, and lets the fundies keep feeling self-righteous. Someone (maybe Ghandi?) said the only way to resolve a dispute is give both sides a way out that save face. I think it could work.
P.S. Sorry if I am repeating you on any of this. I didn’t actually read the other post you linked to up there….
February 20th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Who elected these people again?
Uh…the citizens of New Jersey. And, I think that explains it all…
As for civil union vs. marriage, I think that a marriage happens in a church and a civil union happens in a courthouse and that only the latter should count in the eyes of the law.
Technically, the law in Illinois says just about anyone can perform the ceremony. I, with my 30-second Doctorate of Divinity and online ordination, can perform weddings and civil unions in Illinois (that’s right, I’m the Very Esteemed, Right Honorable, Most High Reverend Doctor, etc.). All I need is a couple with a properly registered marriage license and after the “ceremony” I sign it and return it to the county clerk’s office and they’re officially married. Here in Cook County, it costs $10 and an hour to stand in line in the clerk’s downtown Chicago office.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:28 am
[...] is now equal? by Adrien-Luc Sanders Bad puns aside, while “separate but equal” doesn’t work in cases of gay society vs. hetero society, a New York judge has nonetheless established equality in the separation of married gay couples: In [...]