Lambda Legal has emailed
a press release ballyhooing that a New Jersey appeals court has
heard its case "seeking marriage equality for same-sex couples."
Says the release:
the judges asked us whether we're seeking to change the definition of marriage in New Jersey. We explained that there will be changes ahead and that judges haven't shied away from change when it brings the state in line with its constitution. We've seen similar change in Massachusetts recently, when same-sex couples began legally marrying there. The sky didn't fall and the world didn't crumble, and that's what we'll be seeing in New Jersey, as well.
Which brings to mind the question, What planet do these people live on? If 13 states passing state constitutional gay-marriage bans this year in the wake of Massachusetts wasn't enough (11 did so on Nov. 2), it's likely that a decision by a liberal NJ court ordering same-sex marriage could be just the extra impetus that backers of the Federal Marriage Amendment need to write their ban into the U.S. Constitution. Will Lambda be celebrating then?
Arguing for the rights of marriage through civil unions
or domestic partnerships as an first step - and one that actually
has the electorate's support - would have been the saner
course.