Polls in New Jersey Say Bring On the Gay Marriage
There are two states that could take a turn toward gay marriage yet this year if their state legislatures manage to get their act together. One is New York, where Gov. David Paterson is pushing strong for a vote in the State Senate to recognize marriage equality. The other is New Jersey, where the clock is seriously ticking on passing a bill that recognizes same-sex marriage.
Jersey's Gov.-Elect Chris Christie has flat out said that he will veto a gay marriage bill if it ever reaches his desk in Trenton. That's the bad news. The good news? Christie doesn't take office for another two months, and outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine has said that marriage equality is something he wants to see happen for New Jersey.
That makes for some pretty high drama, because it means that marriage equality in the Garden State will come down to a vote during a lame duck session that starts next Monday. If the state legislature passes a marriage equality bill before Corzine heads for the hills, gay marriage will have found its seventh sixth fifth state (freakin' ballot measures, lowering our numbers!).
Turns out, a new poll released today shows that residents in the state support same-sex marriage. Can this prod the legislature to act, and act fast?
The poll, conducted by Rutgers-Eagleton, shows that 46 percent of the state supports marriage equality, 42 percent would rather see the sky fall down, and 12 percent are unsure. But the poll does one better than just that. It also finds that if the New Jersey legislature passes a marriage equality bill during the next two months, 52 percent will support it, while only 40 percent will turn toward the National Organization for Marriage and the Catholic Church to yell about a constitutional amendment.
That's news that should prod Jersey's State Legislature to move on this bill. And if that news doesn't, how about this quote from the poll's director, David Redlawsk.
"New Jerseyans are more supportive of gay marriage than opposed to it, and more importantly, a majority would accept a legislative decision legalizing same-sex marriages," said Redlawsk. "While this tests opinion outside the intensity of a campaign to ban gay marriage, as occurred in California, there is more of a ‘live and let live’ attitude in New Jersey than in many other states that have dealt with this issue."
The majority of New Jerseyans want to see gay marriage. Gov.-Elect Chris Christie is not going to deliver it for them. So it's up to the state legislature to act fast to make sure that civil rights don't have to be put on hold for at least the next four years.
Michael Jones
is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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