New Jersey Judge: Same-Sex Couples Must Be Allowed to Marry

NBC New York ^ | Friday, Sep. 27 2013 2:51 PM EDT

[Olog-hai]

A state court judge said in a ruling Friday that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in New Jersey, and that the rights given to them under the state’s civil unions law are not equal to federal benefits now granted to married gay couples.

Judge Mary Jacobson granted a summary judgment requested by Garden State Equality, which had claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the federal Defense of Marriage Act meant that same-sex couples in civil unions in New Jersey were being denied equal protection. …

[highball]

I must respectfully disagree.

We are not a democracy. We do not have mob rule. Enacting gay marriage is not good, but the least-worst way is via a legislature. That’s the way laws are made in a republic.

Ballot measures might be tempting, since they seem to be the only way we can advance our agenda, but they’re anathema to a republic. Our Founders feared and hated mob rule, rightly so.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I must respectfully disagree.

So be it. We disagree. But let me tell you my reasons why...

RE: We are not a democracy. We do not have mob rule. Enacting gay marriage is not good, but the least-worst way is via a legislature. That’s the way laws are made in a republic.

I’ll give you the legislature PROVIDED they openly say in their campaign what their stance on this issue is before the elections and during the campaign. Unfortunately, such was not the case in the state where I live in.

In NY State, many democratic legislators PRETEND to be pro-traditional marriage during the campaign and then turned around and voted to legalize gay marriage.

Gay marriage passed by a slight margin in the NY legislature mostly on PARTY LINE vote.

So, that doesn’t solve the problem either.

So, let’s respectfully agree to disagree here. I DISAGREE that allowing the people of a STATE ( not a national referendum on gay marriage) is mob rule.

States are laboratories of Democracy and the powers given to the states (as James Madison stated) are MANY.

A state referendum is taking the issue DIRECTLY to the people and letting them decide whether something as profoundly society changing as the redefinition of marriage should be accepted or not.

[highball]

We will have to agree to disagree, then. I prefer that these issues be settled in the legislature.

Not that it matters much - we’ve lost the country on this. If we could have a nationwide referendum they’d vote for it. Popular votes used to be the way we could stop it, but those days are long gone.