The fight for marriage continues in New Jersey, with deep-pocketed same-sex marriage activists going after Republican lawmakers.
A coalition of national and New Jersey-based gay rights groups is launching a full-scale push this fall |to persuade enough Republican lawmakers to join the ruling Democrats and override Christie’s veto of a bill that legalizes same-sex marriage in New Jersey.
In effect, New Jersey United for Marriage will be asking Republicans to take a step that they have been loath to do: rebuff Christie in public.
Same-sex marriage activists acknowledge that Christie and an organized opposition — a coalition of groups that support the traditional definition of a marriage between a man and woman — pose significant hurdles. But they are confident that once they lay out their case, Republicans will support the override.
Defenders of traditional marriage will make the case that an issue of this magnitude should be decided directly by voters through a ballot referendum — the position Christie supports.
...Donald Sico, a lobbyist for the Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, a group that includes the National Organization of Marriage and the Catholic Conference of New Jersey, says 35 states have already held referendums asking voters to approve or ban same-sex marriage.
“It’s ludicrous to suggest that only in New Jersey is marriage a civil rights issue that is improperly placed on the ballot,’’ Sico said.
