October
25, 2007, marked the one-year anniversary of the landmark decision in Lambda
Legal’s lawsuit
Lewis v. Harris, where the New Jersey Supreme Court
unanimously declared that same-sex couples must be treated equally under the
law. That decision started New Jersey on the road to marriage equality — and
further propelled the fight for equality across the country.
Unfortunately,
a few months later, the New Jersey legislature threw up a barricade when it
opted for a civil union law instead of marriage equality. In the year since the
court ruling one thing is more clear than ever: civil unions are not equal and
they’re not working.
By
creating a separate status for same-sex couples, the government invites
discrimination, and sadly, in New Jersey and other states with civil unions
this discrimination is occurring. Even where same-sex couples appear to have
the same concrete benefits that married couples do, they do not have the
security and dignity of being able to explain to their children, their
neighbors, or their children’s teachers that they are married. Civil union is a
discriminatory label that renders same-sex couples different and inferior, and
no amount of tinkering with the rules and benefits can erase that stain of
inequality.
Since the New Jersey civil union law passed,
Lambda Legal has worked directly with more than one hundred individuals who
have called us seeking help addressing unequal treatment or disregard for their
civil unions. Garden State Equality counts scores more. Often we confront the
civil union law’s failure in employers’ denial of family health insurance. We
experienced this with United Parcel Service in New Jersey.
When UPS first read the civil union law, it
reached the wrong conclusion and declined to provide family benefits to two
employees in civil unions. We brought legal action against the company and it
soon relented. This is great, but UPS is only one company: We should not have
to fight for the same rights over and over. Moreover same-sex couples cannot
walk through life with lawyers at their side.
At best, people do not understand what civil
union laws mean. They see that gay people are denied marriage, and they take
away a discriminatory message from that. That is the common denominator of the
matters we’ve handled at Lambda Legal: civil union laws invite discrimination.
Connecticut
is grappling with this very issue. Any day now that state’s supreme court will
rule in a marriage case brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
before the state passed its civil union law in 2005. Lambda Legal submitted a
friend-of-the-court brief in that case, adding our expertise on why civil
unions are not enough and why the court should order full marriage rights.
Courts
in Iowa and California where Lambda Legal and other groups have marriage cases
will also have the opportunity to rule in favor of equality in those states
(not insignificantly, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed
a marriage bill passed by the legislature, saying that it was up to the court
to make this decision). In New Jersey, however, this is now in the hands of the
legislature.
As
someone who was born and raised in New Jersey, I have stood proudly when my home state has set an example, as it has in
the past, for fairness. On the first anniversary of the Lewis v. Harris
decision, I call upon New Jersey and all of the states with marriage cases or
legislation pending to lead the way: Fulfill the promise of equality and allow
same-sex couples to marry.