N.J. gay rights activists, national groups unite to pressure Christie, GOP

TRENTON ? Following an approach taken in states across the country, a coalition of local and national groups will descend on Asbury Park today to pressure Gov. Chris Christie and Republican lawmakers to clear the way for gay marriage.

Two grassroots organizations that have led the fight in New Jersey ? Garden State Equality and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey ? will be joined by national campaigns that have swooped into New York, Maryland, Delaware and other states to give same-sex marriage the final boost it needs to become law.

The national groups bring money, influence and big-name Republican donors like Paul Singer, the billionaire hedge fund manager who is an adviser to Christie.

"It brings the resources to bear of an entire national movement," Troy Stevenson, executive director of Garden State Equality, told The Star-Ledger. "We?ve fought hard in New Jersey. We?ve done a lot of amazing work. In any other state we would have won by now."

Same-sex marriage has been a thorny issue for Christie as he navigates a path to re-election in a state where the majority of residents support it while signaling to GOP primary voters that he?s conservative enough to be their candidate for president in 2016. Christie vetoed a same-sex marriage bill in 2012, saying he wanted the issue to be decided in a voter referendum.

Christie has said he believes people are born with their sexual preference, and that gay couples in New Jersey have all the rights and benefits of married couples through civil unions.

However, in a decision Christie criticized, the U.S. Supreme Court last month invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, saying that gay couples have been treated unequally.

Today, business owners, religious leaders and gay couples will make the case that same-sex marriage is a matter not only of civil rights but economic competitiveness.

"With striking down of DOMA, the inequality between New Jersey and our neighbors like New York and Delaware is now more pronounced than ever," said Udi Ofer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. "New Jersey?s civil unions system is now responsible for the denial of hundreds of benefits to same-sex couples here in New Jersey."

Advocates hope to legalize gay marriage through a pending court case or by overriding Christie?s veto. "We?ve only got until January to override this veto," said Stevenson. "As we promised last month, it?s through litigation or legislation that we?re going to get this done."

Five national groups have signed on to the campaign, including American United Fund, a nonprofit group founded by Singer as "the voice of Republican voters who are committed to equal rights and full relationship recognition for gay and lesbian Americans."

Singer, the only GOP donor invited to tour Israel with Christie, his family and a small group of staff last spring, started the fund with $1 million and gave $1 million to Freedom to Marry, a group founded by civil rights attorney Evan Wolfson, the New York Times has reported.

"The Republican Party is now able to allow principled conservative positions on marriage to coexist with the party," said Jeff Cook-McCormac, a senior adviser to American Unity Fund. "The governor has indicated that people should be free to vote their conscience and we expect that will be the case when legislators get a chance to look at this issue in the coming months."

Also participating in the New Jersey campaign are the Gill Action Fund, founded in 2005 by philanthropist and entrepreneur Tim Gill, the Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal.

Ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, more than 100 Republicans signed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the suit that struck down California?s ballot initiative barring same-sex marriage.

Former Gov. Christie Whitman is on the list, as is Meg Whitman, the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, for whom Christie campaigned when she ran for governor of California; and Beth Myers, who vetted possible vice presidential picks such as Christie for Mitt Romney?s 2012 campaign.

Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, which opposes gay marriage and supports Christie?s call for a referendum, has said civil unions are sufficient.

Gay marriage is legal in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Source: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/07/gay_marriage_advocates_launch_campaign_to_sway_christie_republican_lawmakers.html

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