The New Jersey legislature cannot enact a marriage equality bill in the state right now because their governor has said he would veto it. Seven couples have taken the step of filing a lawsuit demanding marriage equality in the state, based on the fact that civil unions are not enough:
The case combines both state and federal claims. It argues that the civil union law violates both the New Jersey Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment of the federal Constitution."The constitutional guarantee of equality under the law does not stop midway through the Lincoln Tunnel," said Hayley Gorenberg, Lambda Legal Deputy Legal Director. "Our clients have been kept from each other during medical crises, denied health insurance, and even discriminated against in funeral homes because their civil unions relegate them to second-class status. New Jersey's same-sex couples have been stuck in a limbo caused by the confusion and indignity of living with an inferior status."
Lambda Legal, the group of gay rights lawyers responsible for the suit, have launched a site dedicated to the seven couples who are bringing the suit. We all know why marriage equality is necessary, but the couples want to tell their stories and explain to the state, and to the country, why they're suffering under the civil unions house of cards.