New Jersey could shortly be the second state to legalize same-sex marriage, and the first to do so through the judiciary rather than the legislature. Lambda Legal’s groundbreaking case, Lewis v. Harris, will go before the state Supreme Court next Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s LGBT-rights group, will be holding a rally in Montclair, NJ the night before and gathering outside the Supreme Court building in Trenton during the case. See their Web site for details.
Although a judiciary is less likely than a legislature to be swayed by public opinion, a Garden State Equality-Zogby poll conducted last year offered promising results. It found that “61-33%, voters oppose idea of state constitutional ban on gay marriage, want legislature to accept what courts rule.”
As a one-time resident of the Garden State, with friends still there, I will be watching this case even more closely than I do other states’ same-sex marriage developments. It’s a fitting event for Freedom to Marry Week, and one that will hopefully give us a reason to celebrate.
