Gay MArriage

How Long will it take and what issue will it take to get the NJGOP to adopt the RNC platform

“There are some things that should be sacred and marriage is one of those bedrock institutions that should not be forced to succumb to political correctness,”  said Caruso

With an independent poll released this morning showing more New Jerseyans in favor of gay marriage than against it, three of the state’s most conservative legislators repeated their call for the issue to be put to a popular vote.

“Some people try to use these polls as a replacement for the democratic process in which every citizen has an opportunity to participate,” said Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose (R-Franklin) in a press release.  “A few hundred people answering a telephone solicitation is not a vote.”

Today's Monmouth University/Gannett poll found that 48% of respondents favored gay marriage, while 43% opposed it.  

McHose sponsored legislation in the assembly that would create a ballot question to amend the state constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  Her district-mate, state Sen. Steve Oroho, is the prime sponsor of the senate version.  

Fourty-three percent of the poll’s respondents said they favored a ban like the one McHose proposes.  Fifty percent said they opposed it. 

On the heels of a poll commissioned by a LGBT rights organization that said the majority of New Jersey voters favor allowing gay marriage, Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington Township) pushed for his own legislation that would call for an amendment to the state constitution that would allow New Jerseyans to vote on the issue.

“The people of New Jersey should have the final say on this fundamental issue and it’s time to allow their voices to be heard so that we can put this diversion behind us and move forward on real issues that are affecting our residents,” said Doherty in a press release.

Meanwhile, Steven Goldstein – chair of Garden State Equality, which paid for the Zogby poll – took the opportunity to invite Doherty to his own wedding next year.

“He’s entitled to his view and I look forward to welcoming him to my wedding in New Jersey in 2009,” said Goldstein. “Honestly, if he’d like to be in the wedding party, he’s more than welcome. I’ll personally buy him any tuxedo of his choosing.”