The next state to recognize same-sex marriages...

[pbrower2a]

Gay marriage is not a threat to corporate power. In most states the Hard Right is a coalition between economic elites and Fundamentalist dullards, the latter easily pulled around with appeals to their bigotry.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I don't see how NJ doesn't already have gay marriage.  The rights are the same (or so I believe), there are surely ceremonies where a priest/friend/whatever declares 2 people to be spouses... so what if the certificate doesn't say "marriage"?

I think Minnesota will be the next state to officially recognize gay marriage for the first time. 

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

I don't see how NJ doesn't already have gay marriage.  The rights are the same (or so I believe), there are surely ceremonies where a priest/friend/whatever declares 2 people to be spouses... so what if the certificate doesn't say "marriage"?

I think Minnesota will be the next state to officially recognize gay marriage for the first time. 

There was a bill that Christie vetoed that allowed gay marriage. He probably vetoed it so he could stand a chance being president, he might actually support it.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I don't see how NJ doesn't already have gay marriage.  The rights are the same (or so I believe), there are surely ceremonies where a priest/friend/whatever declares 2 people to be spouses... so what if the certificate doesn't say "marriage"?

I think Minnesota will be the next state to officially recognize gay marriage for the first time. 

There was a bill that Christie vetoed that allowed gay marriage. He probably vetoed it so he could stand a chance being president, he might actually support it.

I'm aware... but it seems like it was purely symbolic.  The civil unions in NJ are basically marriage without actually calling it that. 

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I don't see how NJ doesn't already have gay marriage.  The rights are the same (or so I believe), there are surely ceremonies where a priest/friend/whatever declares 2 people to be spouses... so what if the certificate doesn't say "marriage"?

I think Minnesota will be the next state to officially recognize gay marriage for the first time. 

There was a bill that Christie vetoed that allowed gay marriage. He probably vetoed it so he could stand a chance being president, he might actually support it.

I'm aware... but it seems like it was purely symbolic.  The civil unions in NJ are basically marriage without actually calling it that. 

Do you support gay marriage in other places with civil unions, Hockey?

[Smash255]

The nutter base would go apes*** and he wouldn't even smell a chance of winning a Primary.  On the flip side, with the aftermath of his praise of Obama over Sandy and his fights with the party over the aid he could decide the hell with running and sign it.

Not his base in the New Jersey Republican Party. This is a man with 12:1 approvals amongst NJ Republicans, and 8:1 approvals amongst NJ Independents, and 2:1 approvals amongst NJ Democrats. He has political capital to spare -- so much so that if he supported gay marriage, it would actually change a lot of Republicans' minds on the issue. Christie is just that powerful a figure right now in his own state.

Perhaps, but I was talking about the national GOP base, not Jersey.

[politicallefty]

Interesting.

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It's apparently a "marriage in everything but name" bill. The Governor also supports it.

[Holmes]

Opponents cited public health concerns over same-sex marriage? What

Anyway, I'm interested. Maybe they'll legalize it a few years down the road, granted that this does in fact become law.

[pbrower2a]

Same-Sex Marriage (Quinnipiac, Pennsylvania)

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http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-centers/polling-institute/pennsylvania/release-detail/?ReleaseID=1836

The state legislature may be safely bought for the next two years, but the drift is obvious.  Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin would be interesting.   

[Holmes]

Voted down 35 - 24. Maybe another year.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Voted down 35 - 24. Maybe another year.

The marriage equality or the civil unions?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I don't see how NJ doesn't already have gay marriage.  The rights are the same (or so I believe), there are surely ceremonies where a priest/friend/whatever declares 2 people to be spouses... so what if the certificate doesn't say "marriage"?

I think Minnesota will be the next state to officially recognize gay marriage for the first time. 

There was a bill that Christie vetoed that allowed gay marriage. He probably vetoed it so he could stand a chance being president, he might actually support it.

I'm aware... but it seems like it was purely symbolic.  The civil unions in NJ are basically marriage without actually calling it that. 

Do you support gay marriage in other places with civil unions, Hockey?

Obviously.  It's a respect thing.  I'm waiting for the day the SCOTUS strikes down the Constitutionality of denying indistinguishable equal rights to any kind of partnership, which will make the transition to having gay marriage in every state easy.  I was just saying that as long as the equal rights protections are in place, it's not hard for any gay couple to have a ceremony, live together, and call themselves married.  To hell with the state and their BS pandering, I say! 

[Simfan34]

Do people still really care about gay marriage? I just can't see a candidate, for example, going after Christie in a debate for just signing a gay marriage bill. It would seem silly.

[memphis]

Do people still really care about gay marriage? I just can't see a candidate, for example, going after Christie in a debate for just signing a gay marriage bill. It would seem silly.

A ton of people on both sides care very much. The politicians are dodging the issue, however, because it's frequently in their benefit to do so.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

In a Republican presidential primary, I think Christie would get dinged for that.  Probably the most that could get away without it hurting him in the presidential primary would be if he signed a bill putting the issue before the people in a referendum.  In any case, given the politics of it, I can't see him changing his position before the Supreme Court has a chance to rule on Prop 8 and DOMA, since the Nine might obviate the need for him to do anything.  If the Supreme Court does strike it down, he can simply say on the issue that it's something that the GOP needs to get over and leave in the history books, and thus differentiate himself from the wingnuts calling for a constitutional amendment to reverse the decision.

[Benj]

Do people still really care about gay marriage? I just can't see a candidate, for example, going after Christie in a debate for just signing a gay marriage bill. It would seem silly.

I guess you're just asking whether enough people oppose it and care enough to vote in a Republican primary. To a great degree this depends on the state, and it is almost certainly true that not enough Republicans in NJ oppose gay marriage fervently to primary Christie solely on such a lack of a veto. However, it certainly does not hurt Christie in primaries to be cautious, especially if he has national ambitions.

It is very difficult to see a pro-gay marriage Republican winning a national primary at the moment--remember even Huntsman's vocal support for civil unions was pretty controversial and a big part of painting him as an "other" in the primaries (and even though Romney claimed to oppose even civil unions in the primary, people talked about gay marriage being implemented under him, which certainly did not help his primary campaign though he eventually won). Even in a NJ Republican primary, supporting gay marriage could be part of a general painting of a candidate as not conservative enough, though that couldn't be the sole motivation or centerpiece of a primary campaign.

[badgate]

"Marriage in everything but name" = "Marriage with everything but dignity"

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I'll take a stab at what the next states will be

Rhode Island, legislative, 2013
Illinois, legislative, 2013
California, proposition, 2014
Delaware, legislative, 2016
Hawaii, legislative, 2016
Oregon, proposition, 2016
Colorado, proposition, 2016
Minnesota, legislative, 2017
New Jersey, legislative, 2018

[freefair]

Oooh. Yay for the libertarian wing of Wyoming GOP. They could prove the state is a maverick among conservative areas.

[muon2]

I'll take a stab at what the next states will be

Rhode Island, legislative, 2013
Illinois, legislative, 2013
California, proposition, 2014
Delaware, legislative, 2016
Hawaii, legislative, 2016
Oregon, proposition, 2016
Colorado, proposition, 2016
Minnesota, legislative, 2017
New Jersey, legislative, 2018

Senate hearing on 2/5, likely Senate vote on 2/14.

[seanNJ9]

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Continue reading:
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/20929701/senator-slom-same-sex-marriage-bill-will-likely-pass

[Holmes]

There's always some doubt when it comes to same-sex marriage. Perhaps no state will legalize it this year? Rhode Island isn't a done deal with their current Senate President. It would have been crazy to even think Illinois would do it this year just last November. Hawaii has disappointed in the past before. Minnesota will be a hard struggle. Christie's veto will not be overridden and a referendum is always dangerous.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I don't see how NJ doesn't already have gay marriage.  The rights are the same (or so I believe), there are surely ceremonies where a priest/friend/whatever declares 2 people to be spouses... so what if the certificate doesn't say "marriage"?

The word marriage means a lot. Anything less suggests that the love shared in same-sex relationships is unequal to the love shared in man-woman relationships.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_steven_goldstein/2007/07/the_failure_of_new_jerseys_civ.html