[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/new-jersey-assembly-passes-gay-marriage-bill-heads-to-governors-desk\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/new-jersey-assembly-passes-gay-marriage-bill-heads-to-governors-desk\/","headline":"New Jersey Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Bill, Heads to Governor’s Desk","name":"New Jersey Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Bill, Heads to Governor’s Desk","description":"By Brittny Drye The New Jersey Assembly passed the gay marriage bill on Thursday.\u00a0 However, it doesn’t carry quite the same celebration as when Washington...","datePublished":"2012-02-16","dateModified":"2021-07-08","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/#Person","name":"Equally Wed","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/","identifier":787,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/new-jersey-governor-chris-christie-marriage-equality.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/new-jersey-governor-chris-christie-marriage-equality.jpg","height":600,"width":420},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/new-jersey-assembly-passes-gay-marriage-bill-heads-to-governors-desk\/","about":["Marriage Equality News"],"wordCount":385,"articleBody":" By Brittny DryeThe New Jersey Assembly passed the gay marriage bill on Thursday.\u00a0 However, it doesn’t carry quite the same celebration as when Washington state’s lawmakers did the same last week, which resulted in their governor’s signage into law on Monday. New Jersey Gov. Chris ChristieThe 42-33 vote sends the bill to Gov. Chris Christie’s desk, where the Republican governor has vowed to veto it.\u00a0The assembly passed the bill after two hours of debate about aspects of  the issue including civil rights, the history of marriage, the state\u2019s  civil union law, and the prospect of putting a referendum before voters, reports The Advocate.  A motion to send the bill back to committee failed, 44-31, about an  hour into the discussion.“Without question this is a historic day in the state of New Jersey,”  Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said after the vote. She said she had  never been more proud of the Democratic caucus for doing “what citizens  sent us here to do: to deliberate, to use the legislative process to  represent the interests of all New Jerseyans.”The bill would need several Republican votes in each house to override  the governor; Christie himself essentially guaranteed that that won’t  happen. Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session in January 2014  to muster enough votes to override a veto.Based on the vote tallies this week, another three votes would be needed  to reach the threshold of 27 in the 40-member Senate, and 12 votes  would be needed to reach the threshold of 54 in the 80-member Assembly. In the meantime, Christie has  said he’ll back a referendum that would let voters decide the issue, which, according to a recent poll, 52 percent are in favor of marriage equality. A statement from Garden State Equality, the statewide LGBT advocacy  group, said that \u201cthe legislature has brought us to the edge of the  promised land\u201d by passing the marriage equality bill.“We are  exuberant advocates but also methodical strategists,\u201d said the group\u2019s  chairman, Steven Goldstein. \u201cTo win an override, we will take the time  we need, assisted by a changing world.  Look how the world changed since  the last vote two years ago.   We have until the end of the legislative  session, January 2014.  The key is winning.\u201dPhoto: wikipedia.org"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"New Jersey Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Bill, Heads to Governor’s Desk","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/new-jersey-assembly-passes-gay-marriage-bill-heads-to-governors-desk\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]