Civil Union Commission Should Represent
ALL New Jerseyans
and Preserve Marriage
Toni Meyer, Sr. Research Analyst, NJ Family Policy Council
A state commission convened in Trenton on June 18 th to study civil unions and assess how well they work to provide the benefits of marriage. The chairman, the state's director of civil rights, Frank Vespa-Papaleo, said the commission was formed to answer seven questions about civil unions, ranging from whether they are working to their recognition by other states, to how they affect children and the state's finances. It will issue a final report by its deadline in 2010.
Unfortunately it seems unlikely that we’ll get an unbiased assessment of how civil unions are working from this group. The commission’s newly elected vice chairman Steven Goldstein also chairs the gay rights group Garden State Equality, three other members (including one of the two reverends) are part of Garden State Equality, another is Jr. VP of “Out” for Democracy, and the second reverend is from the Universalist Unitarian Church of Montclair which a self-described “activist congregation who fosters tolerance for all sexual orientations”. To say that the foxes are guarding the hen house here is a vast understatement. Goldstein’s own expressed agenda is to gain full marriage recognition for same-sex couples as soon as possible – even “before the mandate of this commission expires,” – he was quoted as saying in the Star Ledger1.
Where is a representative from the NJ Family Policy Council on this panel, or where is a NJ lawmaker who is opposed to legalizing same-sex “marriage”, or for that matter a mainstream pastor, so we can get a balanced assessment of the civil union law? Goldstein (not surprisingly) now predicts that lawmakers will not need three years to conclude that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry, and states there is a “very substantial" possibility that it could pass the Legislature next year. Hopefully the citizens of New Jersey, at least 54% of who support a constitutional amendment to preserve marriage between one man and one woman, will issue a strong reminder to legislators seeking to be elected as their representatives in November.
The civil union law has only been in effect for four months, yet already Goldstein’s organization is talking it up in the papers about alleged problems with certain companies not recognizing civil unions, attempting to show cause for the title of marriage to be granted. However most often, Goldstein explains, the employer claims an exemption under federal law when their parent company is not based in New Jersey. If there are problems with companies not following the law, they can find legal remedy in court, just like anyone else. Secondly, the rationale of requesting that marriage be redefined to include same-sex couples to resolve this problem is absurd. How would redefining marriage to include same-sex couples in NJ force a company not based in NJ to recognize that law? Massachusetts is the only state where same-sex “marriage” is legal, so if the company was based in one of the other 48 states, they could use the same argument as to why they didn’t have to pay benefits.
There is another false and dangerous premise being put forth by same-sex “marriage” activists that requires a balanced commission to investigate. Activists postulate that so few same-sex couples are entering into civil unions because they are waiting for the title of marriage. Yet recent data on same-sex unions in Scandinavia shows that same-sex “marriages” are relatively rare. Worse, they are remarkably fragile – ending in divorce significantly more than marriages between one man and one woman. The statistics reveal that “the divorce risk for partnerships of men is 50 percent higher than for normal marriages and that the divorce risks for partnerships of women is about double that rate or nearly 100 percent”2. This is tragic in and of itself, but what about the children involved?
For the good of all New Jerseyans, the irrational push for same-sex “marriage” must be stopped and balance must be added to the new state commission on civil unions.
1 State Commission Begins Examining N.J. Gay Union 'Inequities', State panel studying civil unions' success, Group to look at how well the idea is working, Robert Schwaneberg, Star Ledger, Tuesday, June 19, 2007. http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1182228528122250.xml&coll=1
2 Gunnar Andersson et al., "The Demographics of Same-Sex Marriage in Norway and Sweden," Demography 43 [2006]: 79-98.), as cited in World Congress of Families April 17, 2007, Vol. 8 Issue 18, Homo. Unions are Rare & Fragile.
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