N.J. Marriage Equality Pursuants to Re-File Lawsuit Following DOMA Decision

Call it counterintuitive, but Garden State Equality and six same-sex New Jersey couples are hopeful that the state’s civil unions law will be declared unconstitutional.

The group, which in conjunction with Lambda Legal had previously filed a motion against the state, will file for a second time this morning in an effort to force New Jersey to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. The renewed motion is in response to a change of circumstance following last week’s crucial SCOTUS decision on the Defense of Marriage Act, which overturned Section 3 of the law.

According to the Associated Press, the state has until Aug. 2 to respond to the motion, which would be followed by a response from Garden State Equality on Aug. 9 and eventuate in a hearing on Aug. 15 in Trenton, N.J.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who you can read all about in the new issue of Philly Mag, maintained in a TownSquare Media “Ask the Governor” program last week that his position on same-sex marriage post-DOMA remains the same, and that he would veto a hypothetical same-sex marriage bill again if it came to his desk. (“Let the people decide,” he says.) He is, however, in the process of considering a bill that would ban gay conversion therapy, which has successfully passed through the Senate by a vote of 28-9 since we last reported on the matter.

Follow G Philly on Twitter | Like G Philly on Facebook | Follow G Philly on Instagram

Have an event you’d like featured on G Philly? Send details to jmiddleton@phillymag.com.