Real Advancement, or Political Move. If So, By WHO?

Hey folks,

12 days and counting. I stopped by really quick last night to see what I missed, I found this. According to Reuters-"NJ court grants gay couples equal marriage rights"

"Saying times have changed, New Jersey's highest court on Wednesday guaranteed gay couples the same rights as married heterosexuals but left it to state lawmakers to decide if such unions can be called marriage.

"Times and attitudes have changed," the New Jersey Supreme Court said in a nuance 90-page ruling that was neither a clear victory nor a defeat for gay marriage, which is currently legal in the United States only in Massachusetts.

"Despite the rich diversity of this state, the tolerance and goodness of its people, and the many recent advances made by gays and lesbians toward achieving social acceptance and equality under the law, the court cannot find that the right to same-sex marriage is a fundamental right under our constitution," the ruling said.

OK 13 days before the election and NJ decides to grant equal rights and protection to Gay couples? Then the article goes on to say both sides win.

"Matt Coles, director of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said, "It may not be a complete win, but it is a very substantial win."

"This is an enormous step forward -- what the ruling means is that under the state laws of New Jersey same-sex couple have to be treated just the same as heterosexual married couples," he said. "It is up to the legislature to decide what it is called, but the rights and protections must be the same."

He said that within six months, New Jersey will either be like Massachusetts with full marriage for gays or like Connecticut, California, and Vermont, which have civil unions."

But,

"Michael Behrens, an attorney for the Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage and an opponent of gay marriage, called the ruling a partial victory but which also boosted gay rights.

"Same-sex couples do not have the right to marry," he told reporters at the Trenton court. "However, the legislature must develop a statutory scheme granting homosexual couples the right to the benefits of marriage."

Another opponent of gay marriage applauded the decision and predicted New Jersey legislators would not change state law to allow homosexuals to marry.

"We feel that the legislature is going to vote in favor of defining marriage as an act between a man and a woman," said Michele Combs, director of communications for the conservative lobby group Christian Coalition."

I also found this little tidbit interesting,

"Same-sex marriage has faced legal and political roadblocks in much of the United States and has been a hot-button issue since 2003 when Massachusetts' highest court ruled it was unconstitutional to ban gay marriage, paving the way for America's first same-sex marriages in May 2004.

In the 2004 election, many states had ballot initiatives against gay marriage -- a factor which was credited with boosting the vote for President George W. Bush."

That’s right, it DID help GW win again. So I read this article three times. I started thinking to myself, one, the timing. Two, the fact when it seemed more and more states were moving toward allowing Gay Marriage, it DID help get President Bush re-elected. Three, It could also be an attempt, a lame one if so, to say, see, we here at NJ and other states are ready to give rights a privileges to homosexuals, equal to those of "regular people" getting married. However, this will be stopped by the Bush administration and those evil Republicans if they are elected to stay in power. Then you have the whole, this really did NOTHING. They made a statement, now it’s up to legislators. It will most likely be in the courts for sometime. So?

So you see folks, I’m not quite sure what the point was to this news article. I feel it MUST be a political move, but for who? 12 days to go. Get informed. Get ready. Go vote.
Peter