Gay marriage supporters rally outside N.J. Statehouse
- By Mary Fuchs/Statehouse Bureau
January 04, 2010
TRENTON — Hundreds of Garden State Equality members braved the cold to rally at the Statehouse today in support of the bill to legalize gay marriage, which was thwarted last week when the Assembly speaker said he would not post the bill until the Senate voted on it.
With the bill’s fate now back in the hands of the Senate, the crowd is looking to Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) to indicate one way or another whether the legislation would be put to a vote in his house. Codey has not said what his decision will be on the issue but said he would announce one “very soon.”
With just two weeks left before leadership changes in both houses, time is running out for the same-sex marriage bill. Gov.-elect Chris Christie is scheduled to be sworn in at a ceremony on Jan. 19.
The protestors outside the Statehouse were not abated despite below-freezing temperatures.
“We want to be married,” said Marsha Shapiro, 55, who lives with her partner of 20 years, Louise Walpin, 56.
The Middlesex County couple, who have raised two children with mental and physical disabilities, have been featured in an ad campaign by Garden State Equality. As one of their children was dying, the women were unable to secure equal health benefits from prospective employers, despite having a civil union. The couple wound up losing their son and having hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.
“No other family that we know of … has gone through what we have gone through,” said Shapiro, who choked up in front of the crowd. “Eighty-five percent of legally married couples divorce when there’s only one disabled child.”
“I do this not because it makes a difference to me personally, I already have my marriage,” said Betty Wyka, 42, who is Catholic and lives with her husband in Parsippany. “And my traditional marriage is in no way affected by any same-sex marriage,” she said to a crowd that erupted in cheers.
The rally comes on the same day clergy from 19 different faith groups around the state wrote a letter asking Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) to vote on same-sex marriage legislation before the current legislative session ends.
One hundred and twenty clergy members said the current marriage law favors a religious viewpoint of traditional marriage over their beliefs, which allow gay marriage.
“We take issue with the state’s current marriage law, which is not religiously neutral but reflects the beliefs of leaders of a particular faith community which opposes marriage equality,” said the letter.
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