If you want to educate yourself about all the issues in one place, please read on…

The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission released their Final Report after eighteen months of testimony about the consequences of having a civil union law that differentiates between same-sex and heterosexual couples.  The conclusion was that New Jersey should offer marriage to same-sex couples.  Below are some very basic summary conclusions reached by the report, but for some of the actual, painful testimony and for more detail on why they reached their conclusion, please read the Final Report.  It is one of the most comprehensive documents we’ve seen so far that clearly ennumerates and explains in easy-to-understand language why civil unions do not equal marriage.  The report also includes information about some of the legal conclusions in both Connecticut and Massachusetts, where marriage is allowed, and other states and countries where civil unions or same-sex marriages are permitted.

While there are summaries below, you really should read some of the heartbreaking testimony given by both adults and youths about how the lack of equality has hurt them.  They are real stories, not statistics.

SOME (BUT NOT ALL) OF THE CONCLUSIONS OF THEIR FINAL REPORT

  1. A separate legal structure is never equal.
  2. The word “marriage” conveys a universally understood and powerful meaning.
  3. Children would benefit by society’s recognition that their parents are married.
  4. There is uncertainty about the recognition of civil unions in other states.
  5. Civil unions perpetuate economic harm to same-sex couples.
  6. Civil unions create challenges to equal health care access.
  7. Civil unions perpetuate pyschological harm.
  8. A marriage law would make a positive impact.
  9. Studies suggest that marriage would enhance the State’s revenues and economy.
  10. Marriage would not result in increased cost to the State.
  11. Even if federal law fails to recognize same-sex relationships as marriage, the Commission finds that marriage law in New Jersey would help to alleviate the disparate treatment of same-sex couples.

The three final conclusions as a result of the aforementioned points are:

  1. The Legislature and Governor should amend the law to allow same-sex couples to marry.
  2. The law should be enacted expeditiously because any delay in marriage equality will harm all the people of New Jersey.
  3. The Domestic Partnership Act should not be repealed because it provides important protections to committed partners age 62 and over.

SOME (BUT NOT ALL) OF THE CONCLUSIONS OF THEIR INTERIM REPORT

  1. For the overwhelming majority of civil union couples who testified, the Employment Retirement Income Security Act, commonly known by its acronym ERISA, is the reason employers have given for not recognizing their civil unions.
  2. In Massachusetts, a marriage law has prompted many employers to provide equal benefits to same-sex wives or husbands.
  3. The testimony presented by many civil union couples indicated that their employers continue to discriminate against them, despite their familiarity with the law.
  4. Civil union status is not clear to the general public, which creates a second-class status.
  5. The Civil Union Act has a deleterious effect on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex youth and children being raised by same-sex couples.
  6. Many witnesses testified about the unequal treatment and uncertainties they face during a health care crisis, particularly in hospital settings.
  7. Institutional interaction with civil union couples has been less than optimal.
  8. Testimony indicates that the Civil Union Act has a particularly disparate impact on people of color.
  9. The requirement that same-sex couples declare civil union status, a separate category reserved for same-sex couples, exposes members of the United States military to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
  10. The classification of civil union may place marital status in question when one of the partners is transgender.