Gay rights activists are celebrating the senate floor sweep of the marriage equality bill on Monday in New Jersey, even with a looming vow from Gov. Chris Christie to veto the legislation should it reach his desk.
The Senate’s 24-16 vote sends the bill to the Assembly, which is expected to pass it on Thursday.
Monday’s vote contrasts with the only other gay-marriage vote taken in the legislature back in over two years ago when the measure was defeated 20-14. Since then, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat from West Deptford, has changed his position and has been a key component to the current legislation’s success this time around.
Once Christie goes through with his threat, the Legislature would have until January 2014 to override it with a two-thirds votes in both chambers, which gay marriage advocates are confident they can rally the support, though unfortunate they have to do so.
Photo: wikipedia.org
