Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

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"New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday vetoed a bill that would allow same-sex couples to wed, setting up a confrontation with a Democrat-controlled legislature that has vowed to eventually get the bill into law.
The General Assembly on Thursday passed the measure, which the Senate had approved Monday.
Lawmakers have until the legislative session ends in January 2014 to override Christie's veto. They would need a two-thirds majority in both houses to succeed.
Christie, the subject of speculation as a possible GOP vice presidential candidate, has said the issue "should not be decided by 121 people in the statehouse in Trenton."
He has advocated putting the issue to a referendum.

"I continue to encourage the Legislature to trust the people of New Jersey and seek their input by allowing our citizens to vote on a question that represents a profoundly significant societal change," Christie said in a statement. "I have been just as adamant that same-sex couples in a civil union deserve the very same rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples, as well as the strict enforcement of those rights and benefits."
Recent polling, meanwhile, suggests that New Jersey voters are slightly in favor of legalizing such marriages.
Fifty-two percent of state voters approve the measure, the first time the figures have crossed the 50% threshold, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.
The study includes a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.
Gay rights groups, which had expected the governor's veto, have pledged to override it.
"By vetoing the bill that would ensure that all loving, committed New Jersey couples and their families can share in the freedom to marry, with all its protections and meaning, Governor Christie planted his feet firmly on the wrong side of history, said Evan Wolfson, president of the group Freedom to Marry, which had lobbied in favor of the bill.
New Jersey currently allows for civil unions, which Christie says he supports. With Hawaii and Delaware joining the list last month, five other states currently recognize such unions.
A similar battle is also shaping up in Maryland, where Gov. Martin O'Malley -- a Democrat -- has pushed for his state to join the seven others that allow same-sex couples to marry.
Washington state, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, New York and the District of Columbia currently allow such marriages.''

I've said it once and I'll say it again, I cannot believe this is still an issue in 2012. I just don't get it.

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

This makes me so mad. JUST do it already!

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Guess he's looking for trouble

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

I think they should put out a public referendum asking if blacks and whites should marry.

I'm DISGUTED that he thinks it's ok to ask the "people" if it's ok to DENY a part of the population.... (wait for it).....

THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS!

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Those 121 people were elected to represent the people. I assume if they support it, their constituents do as well. My assemblyman wanted to hear from constituents when it was up for vote in NY and promised to vote based on what we wanted (and overwhelmingly people were in favor and he went against it anyway which is another post.)

IMO he's never struck me as a social conservative- I think he wants to build up his conservative cred so he can be on the ticket with Romney.

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

This bill could have already been in effect, but the democratic senate voted it down under Corzine.
It never made it to his desk for him to sign back then.
No one remembers this?

This was all a set up to get people pizzed at Christie.

The dems should have let it be put on the ballot- it would have been voted in...

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

This makes my blood boil! We are all human beings, and should all be treated equally!


Love is love

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Message edited 2/17/2012 11:57:59 PM.

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

It's just strange that he defended Whitney Houston this week, saying we should not judge someone because they had a drug problem, but now is saying that we SHOULD judge someone on sexuality.

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Posted by thisisme

Posted by GoldenRod


Yes, you are correct.... It should just BE. It shouldn't be voted on by anyone, it should just BE....

I can't that enough!
This issue actually makes me so angry that I find it hard to breathe. Just the thought that someone else's life could be voted on by others is disgusting to me. My best friend was so horribly traumatized by the outcome of Prop 8 in California where he lives that him and his fiancee ended up in counseling and eventually broke up. He was so heartbroken, discouraged, angered, hurt, etc. when his right to marry was yanked from under his feet that he never recovered and it ultimately cost him his relationship. He has since sunk into a depression and has not dated because he feels so incredibly saddened by the fact that someday, he could fall in love again and people who don't know him or care about him have decided for him that he cannot marry his partner. I'm honestly in tears just thinking about it now.

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

He is following his morals and I think it takes a big man (pun intended) to want the voters to voice their opinions on it. Couldn't he have just vetoed it without urging them to change it so the voters can decide?

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Maybe this country should just let everything just BE and not vote on any important issue.

Here's the deal. Women had to fight for the right to vote. Blacks had to fight for the right to do everything. This is just part of the process of living in a republic based on democracy.

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill

Message edited 2/18/2012 10:26:39 AM.

Re: Chris Christie vetoes Marriage Bill