New Jersey

New Jersey’s largest gay rights group is suspending donations to political parties after feeling spurned by Democratic lawmakers who did not pass a gay marriage bill. In a statement released Monday, Garden State Equality said it will now contribute only to individual candidates and pro-LGBT... [ Read more → ]

The New Jersey state Senate rejected a same-sex marriage bill today, leaving it unlikely the state will have a gay marriage law in the very near future. [caption id="attachment_4797" align="aligncenter" width="410" caption="Gay marriage supporters rallied outside the NJ Statehouse in Trenton today before the senate... [ Read more → ]

There will be a vote on gay marriage in the lame duck session of the New Jersey state legislature, reports WNBC-TV. "We're gonna post the bill and see what happens," Senate President Dick Codey told us. Codey, and even sponsors of same sex marriage legislation... [ Read more → ]

[caption id="attachment_4642" align="alignleft" width="369" caption="Garden State Equality March (NJ.com photo)"][/caption] A bill to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey was left in limbo this week when the state Assembly speaker tossed it back to the Senate on Thursday, while supporters and opponents watch time run... [ Read more → ]

Adding his voice to the debate on gay marriage, native New Jersey resident Bruce Springsteen has called for lawmakers in his state to pass the measure. "I've long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same-sex couples," Springsteen wrote on... [ Read more → ]

[caption id="attachment_3861" align="alignleft" width="346" caption="via the Star-Ledger"][/caption] In a last-minute move, the New Jersey state senate today called off Thursday’s planned vote on the gay marriage bill, as supporters scrambling for votes said the controversial measure would have a better chance by shifting it to... [ Read more → ]

Gay marriage advocates and opponents in New Jersey are looking forward to Thursday, where the matter is expected to be taken up by the full state Senate following committee approval late Monday night. After seven hours of public testimony, the state Senate Judiciary Committee voted... [ Read more → ]

TRENTON -- Legislation to allow same-sex marriage in New Jersey cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee tonight after more than seven hours of emotional debate and testimony, setting the stage for a showdown in the full Senate, reports the NJ Star-Ledger. Cheers erupted in the packed... [ Read more → ]

TRENTON -- New Jersey lawmakers prodded each other over issues of legal equality and religious freedom as the debate over same-sex marriage neared the three-hour mark today in the Senate Judiciary Committee, reports the NJ Star-Ledger. In a tearful introduction, Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) said... [ Read more → ]

TRENTON -- The New Jersey gay marriage proposal will be considered Monday by a Senate committee and could be posted for a full senate vote later in the week, reports the New Jersey Star-Ledger. [caption id="attachment_3471" align="alignleft" width="410" caption="Gay marriage rally in Trenton, NJ. (NJ.com... [ Read more → ]

Catholic bishops in the state are instructing priests to read or distribute a letter this weekend asking Catholics to pray that lawmakers in New Jersey not allow same-sex marriage in New Jersey, reports the New Jersey Star-Ledger. The bishops’ letter restates Catholic teachings that marriage... [ Read more → ]

New Jersey voters now oppose gay-marriage legislation by a slim margin, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week, reports the New Jersey Star-Ledger. The poll, conducted between Nov. 17 and Nov. 22, found 49 percent of adult residents are opposed to giving gay... [ Read more → ]

Hundreds of gay marriage supporters took to the Statehouse in Trenton today as lawmakers began their first day of a lame-duck session, reports the New Jersey Star-Ledger. Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, rallied several hundred protesters on West State Street, directing them to... [ Read more → ]

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) is angry Thursday about what she sees as a broken promise by Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) to move legislation in the upper house during the lameduck session that would legalize same-sex marriage, reports newjerseynewsroom.com. Sweeney told reporters that... [ Read more → ]

Supporters of gay marriage may find New Jersey more hospitable than many other states, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Thursday. By a 46 percent to 42 percent margin, adults in New Jerseyans favor legalizing same-sex nuptials, with 12 percent unsure. The survey also shows... [ Read more → ]

The battle over gay rights moves to New Jersey and the federal government, advocates said, after Tuesday's narrow rejection of same-sex marriage by Maine voters. The Democrat-controlled legislature in New Jersey, which currently recognizes same-sex couples in civil unions, is under pressure to pass a... [ Read more → ]

New Jersey is shaping up as the next battleground for gay marriage as advocates for and against begin recruiting volunteers and calling lawmakers in preparation for a major public debate later this year. Lawmakers are expected to debate a same-sex marriage bill during the lame-duck... [ Read more → ]