"Love Wins In New Jersey..."

 

WEDDING DAY IN NEW JERSEY: Cory Booker Hosts Happiness, History
As midnight arrived in New Jersey, so did marriage equality, making it the 14th state.

By Lucas Grindley
October 21, 2013

Same-sex couples are getting married today in New Jersey and there's nothing Gov. Chris Christie can do to stop it — for now.

The legislature first passed marriage equality in February 2012, only to have Christie veto it the next day. The hard-charging Republican governor, who is up for reelection next month, opposed same-sex marriage and argued it should instead be put up to a popular vote.  Then a judge ruled in September that the New Jersey constitution doesn't allow the state to bar same-sex couples from wedding. Christie immediately appealed that decision.

Couples began marrying at midnight because the state's Supreme Court declined to delay the effect of the lower court's ruling. But Christie's appeal will eventually be heard in January and that means a chance remains that he will succeed in stopping gay weddings.

 

New Jersey's popular and newly elected senator, Cory Booker, brought the media spotlight to LGBT equality as he married same-sex couples the moment it became legal in his state at midnight. The Newark mayor is known for his active Twitter account, and he shared photos and expressed congratulations to the couples — gay, lesbian and straight — whose unions he officiated at Newark's city hall.

One person tweeted to Booker, "I dont care that gays get married but I hate that u try to politicize it. Hope God is watching you." To which he responded, "I know he is watching us both."

Marriage equality has become an issue in Christie's reelection fight, in which opponent N.J. state senator Barbara Buono used a television ad to paint his stance as a play for an eventual presidential run in 2016. In their final debate, Christie said he'd oppose marriage equality even if his own child came out as gay.  In an earlier debate, Buono called out the governor during a debate for saying the legislature can't be relied on to decide marriage equality because "I don’t trust 121 politicians with political agendas."

"My daughter, who is openly gay, is not a political agenda," Buono shot back during the debate.

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