Judge orders New Jersey to allow gay marriage
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Same-sex marriage proponent Kat McGuckin of Oaklyn, New Jersey.
New York City (AFP) - A judge has ordered the Northeastern US New Jersey to allow gay marriage, saying a ban goes against a historic Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.
Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled that such marriages should be authorized as of October 21, writing that "same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in order to obtain equal protection of the law under the New Jersey Constitution."
Gay couples in this small East Coast state have been able to enter into civil unions.
But in her decision Friday, Jacobson wrote that such unions kept gay couples from enjoying federal benefits.
Whereas before June's Supreme Court ruling "same-sex couples in New Jersey would have been denied federal benefits regardless of what their relationship was called, these couples are now denied benefits solely as a result of the label placed upon them by the state," she said.
The US Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented same-sex couples from enjoying the same rights as heterosexual couples.
New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie, vetoed a bill to legalize gay marriage last year and his office indicated it would appeal Jacobson's decision.
The ruling marked the first time a judge used the recent Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriage in a state that bans it.
Experts say similar moves in other states could follow suit.
Thirteen US states and the capital Washington allow same-sex marriage in the United States.
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-orders-jersey-allow-gay-marriage-235557918.html
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