Sad news from New Jersey, as it appears that Garden Staters won't be enjoying marriage equality any time soon.
New Jersey's state Senate has defeated a bill to legalize gay marriage, leaving it unlikely the state will have a gay marriage law in the very near future.
The bill needed 21 votes to pass; only 14 senators approved the measure Thursday. (AP)
Although I'm a Massachusetts native, longtime Virginian, and current resident of the District of Columbia, this is particularly sad news for me. My wife is from New Jersey, and we got married there. It was a joyous occasion--the kind that every loving couple should be able to experience.
With the firmly anti-equality Gov.-elect Chris Christie taking office on January 19th, it appears it will be years before New Jersey has marriage equality. The state does recognize civil unions (I tried to see if they'd give us one, before my then-fiancee snatched the form from my hands at the clerk's office), but it does not afford gays and lesbians the same rights that the rest of us enjoy.
Another sad day in what has been a seemingly endless string of setbacks...