Hey, now Tom in his cute dress can get married in NJ
Posted on 07/06/2004 9:07:12 PM PDT by Coleus
For Marty Finkel and Mike Plake, South Orange village is the place to be this weekend.
A new domestic partnership law making New Jersey the fifth state in the nation to give gay couples many rights accorded married people takes effect Saturday. In South Orange, officials will begin registering couples as soon as they can -- a minute after midnight.
Finkel, 45, and Plake, 41, who lobbied for the law, expect to be the first couple officially recognized as domestic partners in New Jersey.
"Everyone in the state is welcome," Finkel said. "It is very exciting."
The new law, hailed by gay rights activists and criticized by some religious groups, will arrive with celebrations.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Didn't anyone tell these people that registration leads to banning and confiscation? No? Well, we should ;0)
Well, Sean Hannity said today that NJ is in play for The Prez this go 'round. Now I know why. I don't think homosexual marriage will sell real well to those ol' blue collar boys in Joisy.
I don't think homosexual marriage will sell real well to those ol' blue collar boys in Joisy. >>>
Nor to the almost 1 million conservatives who voted for schundler.
Hey, now Tom in his cute dress can get married in NJ
POSTED: 4:31 pm EDT July 9, 2004
Calling it a victory for social justice, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey hosted a reception at the governor's mansion Friday to celebrate the state's new domestic partnership law.
Several communities plan to open municipal offices on Saturday to mark the first day gay partners and unmarried heterosexual couples age 62 and over may register. The law will give some legal rights to registered couples, including the ability to make medical decisions for the other.
Gay rights advocates joined the governor at the private celebration, which was not announced until it was over. McGreevey has championed the partnership law since the measure was first introduced.
"I am proud that the day is finally here when New Jersey will guarantee individuals who have entered into an enduring emotionally and financially committed relationship, the basic fundamental rights they deserve," McGreevey said in a statement.
The New Jersey law allows domestic partners to file state taxes jointly, establish joint property rights and extend the benefits given to state employees to cover domestic partners.
Most towns will start signing up couples on Monday. Municipalities that will offer Saturday hours for registration include: Asbury Park, South Orange, Maple Shade, Maplewood, Trenton, Ewing and Union Township. A daylong celebration is planned in Maplewood with food and entertainment.
New Jersey is the fifth state in the nation to officially recognize same-sex couples. Domestic partner benefits have been granted in California and Hawaii. Vermont has approved civil unions and Massachusetts recently legalized same-sex marriage.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Here's another problem:
What becomes law in one state must be recognized in the other states, if they move out, then other states must follow that law due to this provision in the Constitution: Article 4, Section 1 of the U. S. Constitution — popularly known as the full faith and credit clause.
"Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State; and Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. "
Courts have generally recognized marriages, divorces, alimony and child support decisions by a state and its judicial system as falling within the definition of Acts. There is strong likelihood that a same-sex union performed or recognized in New Jersey and Massachusetts would be entitled to full faith and credit in all sister states.
This is where I disagree with many freepers and am not really in favor of a Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, I find it frightening that the Federal Govt. will be involved in marriage of any kind. What will happen if the democrats take over the presidency and the congress sometime in the distant future? They can pass another amendment making homosexual marriages legal, they can even go further and make traditional marriages illegal!! I'm still ambivalent on the issue.
Congress could, by statute, declare that the effect of a same-sex union could not contravene the public policy of the forum State. However, such a statute would likely set up a legal battle that the Supreme Court could end up resolving, the outcome is not certain. Clearly the problem is the court and not the Constitution. Federal courts must have decisions regarding the definition of marriage or other unions removed from their jurisdictions. The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is controllable by Congress, which can create regulations of and exceptions to that jurisdiction under Article III, Section 2. All other federal courts are created by act of Congress and their entire scope of jurisdiction is subject to congressional control. The following language is suggested as one approach that Congress could employ by statute:
"The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the jurisdictions of the inferior federal courts shall not extend to hearing nor determining the power of a state to define and regulate marriage. Such jurisdictions shall not extend to hearing nor determining the refusal of any state to give full faith and credit to any marriage or other civil union performed or recognized under the law of any other state. "
There is no quick, fool-proof remedy to the gay-marriage challenge. But the first principle of limited, constitutional government is that no more power should be concentrated in federal hands. This means that States must be left to their own definitions of marriage, even at the risk that some mavericks will embrace some version of same-sex unions.
New Jersey's domestic partners law at a glance
Hospital set to carry out domestic partnership law
EQUAL RIGHTS
Couples to ask for benefits under new state law Gaps mar domestic partner law
Registering for a domestic partnership in New Jersey will soon be easy. But breaking up will be hard to do.
| Sunday, July 11, 2004 |
Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples from across the state gathered in Maplewood to register as domestic partners Saturday and celebrate their first chance to enjoy some of the legal rights of marriage.
A party mood prevailed as smiling couples lined up to sign paperwork inside Town Hall. Some wore suits; some wore T-shirts and shorts. Many brought along babies in strollers, cameras, and picnics. Friends and relatives mingled outside on the sunny lawn to congratulate them.
Saturday marked the first time in New Jersey that same-sex couples, as well as opposite-sex partners aged 62 and older, could apply for such official recognition. Maplewood opened its Town Hall so volunteer clerks, registrars, and notaries from several towns could start processing them at 10 a.m. Couples often thanked the volunteers with hugs.
"This is a very great day for civil rights in New Jersey," declared Maplewood Mayor Fred. R. Profeta at a morning ceremony on the Town Hall steps, before a crowd that police said topped 200 people. Although Catholics and other conservatives have criticized the Domestic Partnership Act, no protestors showed up to complain.
So many couples came that Joe Komosinski, the state registrar, had to keep the counters in Maplewood open an hour past the expected closing time of 4 p.m. He sent many applicants over to nearby Union Township. Ewing Township, Maple Shade, New Hanover, and Trenton were also open.
Just before 5 p.m., Komosinski estimated that 600 or 700 couples statewide had registered.
"It's been a crazy day but great," he said. "Everyone was very patient and understanding."
Many in the crowd had crossed barriers before. Faith Baum and Sue Becker of Maplewood challenged their town's definition of family; in 1990 they pushed to buy a "family" membership at the swimming pool when their daughter, Zoe, was born. Zoe was at camp Saturday, so her parents held a cellphone up to the ceremony so she could hear it.
Zoe's 10-year-old sister, Jamie, was proud. "It's really cool that my parents can do this," Jamie said. "It's the closest thing to getting married right now."
The new law - passed in January - gives domestic partners a handful of the many rights enjoyed by married people. For example, it gives partners the right to visit each other in the hospital and make medical decisions for incapacitated partners. It exempts them from state - but not federal — inheritance taxes. It gives spousal health benefits to the domestic partners of state employees, but does not require that such privileges be provided by private employers.
South Orange was actually the first to start the hoopla Saturday. It granted the first certificate at one minute past midnight. Steven Goldstein of the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition said the day marked one step in the group's fight for full marriage rights.
"We're happy but sober," said Goldstein, of Teaneck. Many applicants wore buttons insisting "The next step: marriage equality."
To register, couples had to prove they shared a home and were responsible for each other's welfare, by showing a joint deed, bank account, or other evidence. Partners must promise to be responsible for each other's living expenses, and commit to a life of mutual caring.
Hilery Kipnis and Kimberly Miller of Maplewood brought their three daughters. Five-year-old Beatrice carried a wicker basket filled with pink and white rose petals to toss.
"This is an opportunity for people to see our family is just like any other," Kipnis said. "Our kids want junk food and want to watch television just like in any other family."
Whitney Pillsbury of South Orange was there with his partner, John Clarke, and three young foster children. The men hope to adopt. Pillsbury pointed out that both their names appear together on their foster parent license.
"We take care of three of the state's kids but the state won't give us a marriage license," Pillsbury said. "I find that criminal. These kids should have legally married parents."
In the park across from Town Hall, several gay activist groups underscored their devotion to family life by setting up booths where children could make crafts and play games. A live band belted out the theme song from the movie "Shrek," with the chorus "I'm in Love, I'm a Believer.''
In January, New Jersey became the fifth state in the nation to give some benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. Domestic partner benefits have also been granted in California and Hawaii. Vermont has approved civil unions and Massachusetts recently legalized same-sex marriage.
Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, who was instrumental in passing the law, got choked up at Saturday's ceremony. "I always cry at happy occasions," she said. "I feel like I'm watching the birth of a new family member."
Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg (D)
Majority Conference Leader
545 Cedar Lane
Teaneck, NJ 07666
PHONE NUMBER: (201) 928-0100
E-MAIL ADDRESS: AswWeinberg@njleg.org
It wasn't the wedding of their dreams, but yesterday was the closest that Hilery Kipnis and her partner Kimberly Miller have gotten to having their 13-year relationship legally recognized in New Jersey.
So the Maplewood couple dressed their three young daughters in flowery wedding garb and headed over to Town Hall to register as domestic partners, a distinction that gives them some of the legal rights afforded to married couples in the state.
"We're excited, but we're sad we don't have the rights that married couples have," said Kipnis, 44. "We're still waiting for marriage."
The couple was one of hundreds who spilled onto the steps of Maplewood's Town Hall yesterday morning to register on the first day New Jersey's Domestic Partnership Act went into effect. By day's end, 400 couples had shown up to register in Maplewood, said Joseph A. Komonsinski, the state registrar.
Statewide, between 600 to 700 registered as same-sex domestic partners, said Komonsinski.
The state is now the fifth in the nation to allow same-sex couples to file joint tax returns, make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner and visit each other in the hospital.
Maplewood was one of a handful of towns across the state that opened its doors yesterday to allow same-sex couples to take advantage of the new law without waiting for regular business hours Monday. South Orange opened at 11 p.m. Friday and registered 38 couples, starting at 12:01 a.m. Martin Finkle and Mike Plake were the first to register.
The largest crowds turned up in Maplewood, where a daylong festival was held to celebrate the occasion. People arrived as early as 7:30 a.m. and there was a line outside Town Hall by 9 a.m.
The day started with a ceremony on the steps of the venerable red-brick building, infused with touches of patriotism, including the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the National Anthem. The crowd also sang "This Land is Your Land," before a dozen registrars from across the state began to register couples.
Some couples wore matching outfits and donned corsages to mark the occasion. Some brought their children and parents. Others brought their pets.
State and local dignitaries hailed the day as a milestone for civil rights in New Jersey, but said there is more to be done.
"The fight is not over is it?" asked Maplewood Mayor Fred Profeta Jr. "And Maplewood is going to be at the forefront of this fight."
Many couples in the crowd wore buttons that said, "The Next Step: Marriage Equality."
The new law does not sanction gay marriage. Only Massachusetts has legalized same-sex marriage, in response to a court order. A lawsuit seeking to force New Jersey to recognize same-sex marriage is pending in a state appeals court.
The U.S. Senate opened debate on Friday on a constitutional amendment that would effectively ban gay marriage. President Bush endorsed it in his weekly radio address to the issue yesterday, saying the amendment is needed to protect the institution of marriage.
Steve Marshon, a Maplewood resident and gay activist, said he's "confident that the federal government will see that this is a mean-spirited amendment that takes away rights."
Politics aside, yesterday was a day of rejoicing for couples such as Faith Baum and Sue Becker, who have shared a home and children for years but could not enjoy legal rights as a couple until now. The Maplewood couple became the first in town to fill out the paperwork and register for their rights.
Standing on the steps of town hall, Sue Becker held a cell phone in the air so their 14-year-old daughter, Zoe Becker, could listen in from her camp in Maine. Their other daughter, Jamie Becker, 10, stood between them.
"We are so excited we have gotten to this point in history," said Sue Becker. "This is a very exciting step along the way."
Couples representing 10 counties in the state, including Monmouth, Hudson, Morris, Sussex and Middlesex were given honorary certificates marking the day.
Teaneck couple Steven Goldstein, 42, and Daniel Gross, 34, represented Bergen County. After receiving their certificate, proclaiming that they registered on the first day the new law went into effect, Goldstein hugged Mayor Profeta and quipped, "Do we get to kiss the mayor? He's very cute."
Some couples, such as Juliana Leppard, 37, and Deborah Kearney, 43, decided to avoid the long lines at Maplewood. The couple arrived at the Union Township municipal building at 10:30 a.m. with their son John Nazario, 7, in tow.
The Union Township couple have lived together for five years and are expecting another child soon.
"We love each other," said Leppard. "This is the closest thing we can do to marriage. It kind of validates things for us."
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