USA: New Jersey becomes the 14th state in the United States that will allow same-sex marriage

Record ID: 335434

  • Title: USA: New Jersey becomes the 14th state in the United States that will allow same-sex marriage
  • Date: 19th October 2013
  • Summary: MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 18, 2013) (REUTERS) NEW JERSEY SAME SEX-MARRIAGE SUPPORTERS HUGGING SAME SEX MARRIAGE SUPPORTERS HOLDING UP FLAGS WIDE VIEW OF SAME SEX-MARRIAGE SUPPORTERS VARIOUS OF SIGNS ENGAGEMENT RING OF MARSHA SHAPIRO (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARSHA SHAPIRO, PSYCHO THERAPIST, SAYING: "We've been wanting to get married for a long time. We hav
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2013 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8WSRIKK6DQ4CBZDDGOWKYDBSV
  • Story Text: Same-sex couples in New Jersey will be able to wed starting on Monday (October 21), after the state's highest court unanimously denied Governor Chris Christie's request to put gay marriage on hold while the state's appeal is heard.
    The governor had asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to freeze a state judge's ruling allowing gay marriage until the top court hears the case in January and issues a final decision.
    But in a signal that the court may be prepared to accept gay marriage permanently, all seven judges on the court ruled that the state had "not shown a reasonable probability it will succeed on the merits."
    New Jersey on Monday will become the 14th state to permit gay marriage, along with the District of Columbia.
    On Friday (October 18) dozens of same-sex marriage supporters came out in Montclair, New Jersey. Among them was Marsha Shapiro who said that marriage was long overdue for her and her partner Louise Walpin.
    "We've been wanting to get married for a long time. We have been together over 24 years, we were religiously married over 21 years ago. We have four children and four grandchildren and another one on the way. It's time that we get married," Shapiro told Reuters.
    For clergyman Bob Kriesat, same-sex marriage in New Jersey had a double meaning.
    "Obviously I am a clergyman, and I have been doing weddings close to 50 years. Now I am going to be able to do all weddings and the government won't be telling me who I can and cannot marry. So that's professionally. And then personally we have been together for 44 years and it just would be nice to know that we are able to be married," he said.
    Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson in Trenton ruled three weeks ago in favor of gay couples who had challenged the state's civil union law, finding that it unfairly restricted federal benefits that are guaranteed for married couples.
    Jacobson's decision made New Jersey the first state to lift a gay marriage ban as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to strike down the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
    Local officials were already preparing for a flood of same-sex couples seeking licenses on Monday. In Jersey City, the city clerk had begun to accept applications on Friday, according to a city spokeswoman David Gibson and his partner Rich Kiamco (pronounced Kemco) were the first couple to get their wedding application receipt in Jersey City. They will be the first couple to be wed on midnight Sunday (October 20) by the city's mayor.
    While the couple married in New York a couple years ago, a state that legalized same-sex marriage in 2011, they called the wedding "fake" since it was not legal at the time in their home state.
    "We feel it is important now to declare our love, and our relationship in the state that we make our home. So we are very proud to be legally married in the state of New Jersey," Gibson explained.
    "This act, getting this piece of paper and having this ceremony at midnight, I mean it's beautiful, it's fun. It's a much more profound statement towards the universe, (saying) 'no we are equal and we are not accepting anything less than equality and protection.' So we have to do this," Kiamco added.
    The Supreme Court's ruling prompted a flurry of court filings from advocates in states across the country.
    Next week, gay rights advocates will argue for marriage in New Mexico Supreme Court. A federal judge in Michigan this week set a February trial date for a gay marriage case there.
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