New Jersey's Civil Unions "Don't Work"

On the one-year anniversary of civil unions becoming legal in New Jersey, a state commission has released a report saying that civil unions don't work and that gay couples in Massachusetts don't have the same legal difficulties faced by those in New Jersey.

The commission found that many companies in the state that are self-insured, and thus regulated by federal rather than state law, refuse to provide health insurance to the partners of their employees.

"Civil union status is not clear to the general public, which creates a second-class status," the report found.

Social conservatives alleged the commission was slanted in favor of allowing gay marriage.

"They insist on using the state to jam their lifestyle down the throat of those who disagree with them," Merkt said. "Theirs is a divisive and ill-advised campaign that may well trigger a backlash from folks who are tired of the lobby's constant demands that law of marriage be changed for its sole benefit."

Garden State Equality is demanding that New Jersey grant full marriage rights by the end of this year. Governor Corsine has said he would sign such a bill, but doesn't want the issue brought up until after the presidential election.