gay marriage
New Jersey Senate votes down gay marriage, despite problems in civil-union law.
Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), a key adviser to the governor-elect, said the debate "opened his eyes" to flaws in the civil union law. He agreed those problems need to be fixed, but he said he remained committed to his position against gay marriage.
...The vote came down mostly along party lines. Just one Republican, Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer), voted for passage. Six Democrats voted against it. [Three Democrats abstained. Two were absent.]
...Sweeney, who will replace Codey as Senate president next week, said after the vote his fellow Democrats mishandled the measure "from the beginning."
"This bill should have been put up in April when there was four or five Republicans willing to vote for the bill," he said.
...Codey asked his fellow senators to view the turmoil of past civil rights debates through a modern prism, saying, "Looking back, you have to ask yourself, "What were they thinking? What were they afraid of?' "
...The bill's opponents brought a battery of counter-arguments, saying the issue should be decided by the public in a referendum and that the civil union law, while flawed, can be fixed.
Now they'll probably press on, I hope, with fixing the civil union law. Kyrillos speaks for most Americans, I think. He speaks not in "hate", but in misguided defense of an ancient tradition.
Bruce says, "WTF? What has happened to the gay marriage movement? If you lose in CA and NJ, where do you go now?" He then declares the gay marriage issue dead.
Meanwhile, gay activists have succeeded in allowing cameras to record the Prop 8 hearing, so they can identify and harass people who testify in favor of Prop 8, just like they continue to harass people who funded and supported it. Similar efforts are underway in Maine, where voters also overturned same-sex marriage.
And, despite these bullying tactics, they continue to wonder why the public hasn't fallen into line behind them.
Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), a key adviser to the governor-elect, said the debate "opened his eyes" to flaws in the civil union law. He agreed those problems need to be fixed, but he said he remained committed to his position against gay marriage.
...The vote came down mostly along party lines. Just one Republican, Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer), voted for passage. Six Democrats voted against it. [Three Democrats abstained. Two were absent.]
...Sweeney, who will replace Codey as Senate president next week, said after the vote his fellow Democrats mishandled the measure "from the beginning."
"This bill should have been put up in April when there was four or five Republicans willing to vote for the bill," he said.
...Codey asked his fellow senators to view the turmoil of past civil rights debates through a modern prism, saying, "Looking back, you have to ask yourself, "What were they thinking? What were they afraid of?' "
...The bill's opponents brought a battery of counter-arguments, saying the issue should be decided by the public in a referendum and that the civil union law, while flawed, can be fixed.
Now they'll probably press on, I hope, with fixing the civil union law. Kyrillos speaks for most Americans, I think. He speaks not in "hate", but in misguided defense of an ancient tradition.
Bruce says, "WTF? What has happened to the gay marriage movement? If you lose in CA and NJ, where do you go now?" He then declares the gay marriage issue dead.
Meanwhile, gay activists have succeeded in allowing cameras to record the Prop 8 hearing, so they can identify and harass people who testify in favor of Prop 8, just like they continue to harass people who funded and supported it. Similar efforts are underway in Maine, where voters also overturned same-sex marriage.
And, despite these bullying tactics, they continue to wonder why the public hasn't fallen into line behind them.