New Jersey Democratic Leaders Intend To Introduce Same Sex Marriage Legislation Wednesday

In a dramatic gesture, Democratic leaders plan to announce Monday that a bill legalizing same sex marriage will be the first measure to be introduced in the new session of the Senate and the Assembly, sources with knowledge of their intentions said tonight. The Star-Ledger reports that the unified Democratic leadership represents the best chance supporters will have to see a bill legalizing same sex marriage move through both houses, according to three sources who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the plan. State Senator President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who is said to be a pivotal supporter of the legislation, abstained the last time the issue came before the Legislature in 2010 — a decision he later said he regretted more than any other in his career. A spokesman for Sweeney did not respond to questions about the plan Friday night. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) will also be present at the news conference, ensuring that the proposal has the full support of the state’s two most powerful Democratic lawmakers. Oliver could not be reached for comment. But there remains a major, obvious obstacle to the legalization of same sex marriage in New Jersey: Governor Chris Christie. A spokesman for the governor, Michael Drewniak, declined to comment on the reported measure. But Christie has emphasized in the past that he opposes gay marriage and supports civil unions, which New Jersey currently allows. The announcement will come on the final day of the current legislative session, and the day before Christie delivers his State of the State message to a joint session of the new Legislature. The bill will be the first measure introduced in both chambers on Wednesday Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, a gay rights organization, declined to comment on the Democratic plan Friday night, but he has fought for years to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey. New Jersey has historically been on the forefront of the national debate over gay marriage but has lagged behind Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, and, most recently, New York where gay marriage was legalized last year. In 2002, Lambda Legal filed a suit on behalf of seven same-sex couples saying the state’s constitution protected marriage equality for gay and lesbian partners. "They are tired of working hard to be first-class families, paying first-class taxes, but getting second-class citizenship," said David Buckel, a senior staff attorney with Lambda Legal. "There should be no confusion these couples seek their civil right to marry." It took four years for the case to wend its way to the State Supreme Court where a 2006 decision advanced gay rights but failed to provide full equality. The court ruled that same sex couples were constitutionally entitled to all rights and benefits heterosexual couples get through civil marriage, but did not stipulate that these unions were "marriages." The fight for marriage equality made a parallel path in the state legislature through the years. In January 2004 the State Senate passed the Domestic Partnership Act, which at the time was one of the strongest gay rights bills in the country. In 2006, former Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill that gave same-sex couples who form civil unions "all of the same benefits, protections and responsibilities, "that state law confers on married couples. It would take three years for the issue of same sex marriage to come to another vote in Trenton. But in a rebuke to Democrats, same-sex marriage was defeated in January 2010 by a 20 to 14 Senate vote, with three abstentions. Many thought that Christie’s opposition to the bill sealed its doom at the time. "I oppose it and I think it’s the wrong thing to do," Christie said shortly after his election. He said if it came to his desk he would not sign it.