On the coattails of the New York State decision to allow same sex marriages, the Garden State, New Jersey has been hit will a lawsuit asking for the same rights. The lawsuit claims the state is engaging in discrimination because of sexual orientation.
The state of New Jersey does allow for civil unions, which in theory offers the same rights as marriage. The activists bringing forth the lawsuit, Garden State Equality, says in practice the rights are not the same.
According to NJ.com, “But plaintiffs said the legal rights are only equal only in theory. They offered stories about trying to visit their partners in hospitals or make medical decisions for them, but being initially denied by staff who did not understand what a civil union was.
“Daniel Weiss, for instance, had to show doctors his civil union ring to show that he could make medical decisions for his long-time partner, John Grant, after Grant was struck by a car and his skull shattered in Manhattan. Despite explaining it to attending doctors, the hospital called Grant’s sister up from Delaware – four hours away – to make medical decisions for him.”
The New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has vowed to veto any same sex marriage legislation that crosses his desk, so the advocacy group decided that bringing a lawsuit through the courts was the most reasonable course of action.
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