A bill was introduced Monday in the New Jersey legislature that would place a measure legalizing same-sex marriage on the state ballot next year, a move Republican Gov. Chris Christie could end up supporting.
But the measure introduced by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, the state's first openly gay legislator, could be shut down in the Senate, where Democratic leaders view the issue as a civil rights measure that shouldn't be decided by a popular vote, reports the
Newark Star-Ledger.
Ironically, Christie, who opposes gay marriage and vetoed a bill in February legalizing it, has said he would support a ballot initiative giving voters the right to settle the matter.
Gusciora, who also had opposed a ballot approach to settle the issue, told reporters he changed his mind after he was urged by constituents to consider the recent approval of the measure in November by voters in Maine, Maryland, and Washington state.
“I am the last person who believes civil rights should be on the ballot, but civil rights delayed is civil rights denied,” Gusciora said, according to the Star-Ledger.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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