January 19th, 2012
The Wall Street Journal is suggesting that there may be enough favorable votes for equality in New Jersey that any veto of the marriage bill by Governor Chris Christie can be overturned. Of course, this is all based on vote counting, a process that is subject to assumptions and promises rather than actual votes.
And Christie continues to be less than fully specific on what his response will be. When asked whether he would trade support on a tax reduction for support for the marriage bill, Christie said (WNYC beginning at 6:21):
My opposition to same-sex marriage has been very well publicized over time. Now, they haven’t been able to get a same sex marriage bill passed. And I think that this type of societal change is something that we need to do very deliberately and have as much public input as we possible can before people decide whether we want to overturn hundreds of years of societal [mo…?] relationship issues.
But we will know soon enough. The first test of the bill comes next Tuesday when the Senate Judiciary hears debate and votes on the bill.
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Ben In Oakland
January 19th, 2012
Dear Mr. Christie–
Nothing is getting overturned here, except the centuries of antigay prejudice that decrees that gay people must, as a matter of law, faith, and society, be treated differentlÂy that heterosexuÂal people.
Hunter
January 19th, 2012
That is such a crock. The New Jersey Supreme Court, as I recall, said the state had to offer equality. They tried civil unions and everyone agreed that was a big flop. What is Christie going to do, veto the bill and then fight another lawsuit? Because if someone doesn’t sue, they’ve got their heads on backwards.
Richard Rush
January 19th, 2012
I’ve lived through the social climate change* for gay people since the summer of Stonewall in 1969. Only those who are now woefully detached from reality can possibly believe they can steer things in a different direction. It would take a cataclysmic event and subsequent social upheaval to upset the certainty of the ultimate outcome. And accepting the inevitable will also include recognition that what benefits gays also benefits families and all of society.
Eventually, history will record which politicians chose the right side for their legacy, and which ones chose the wrong side as bigoted dead-enders – whether in pursuit of short term votes, or “on principle.”
It would be interesting to talk one more time to those who vehemently resisted the abolition movement, and ask if they would like to change their legacy.
————
*As a general trait, our adversaries seem inclined to deny all sorts of climate change.
Blake
January 20th, 2012
“It would take a cataclysmic event and subsequent social upheaval to upset the certainty of the ultimate outcome.”
Ah, my constant nightmare. The more I look into it the more convinced I become that we dodged a bullet in ’08. If the Great Recession had been a little deeper…
And now, when it appears we’re on the edge of coming out of the doldrums, if something pushes us back…
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