NOW-NJ State President Suzannah Porter spoke at this rally, but is not quoted in this article.

Backers of gay marriage rally amid hope on key court case

BY KELLY HEYBOER, Star-Ledger Staff, February 15, 2006

Several hundred gay rights supporters packed a Montclair synagogue last night in a noisy and emotional show of strength on the eve of a high-profile same-sex marriage case due to go before the state Supreme Court today.

Waving "New Jersey Supports Marriage Equality" signs, the standing-room-only crowd at Bnai Keshet Synagogue listened as a string of speakers from local and national gay groups called for extending marriage rights to homosexual couples.

New Jersey's domestic partnership laws do not go far enough, said Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, the group that organized the rally.

"Marriage is the only currency of commitment that the real world universally accepts and understands," Goldstein said.  "The label makes the rights come alive."

The New Jersey Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a lawsuit filed by seven gay and lesbian couples who say the state constitution guarantees them the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples.

Two lower courts have ruled that state lawmakers -- not the courts -- are responsible for making controversial decisions defining marriage.  But gay marriage supporters say the court must step in to end discrimination against same-sex couples.

Whatever the state Supreme Court decides, the ruling is expected to be controversial.

The New Jersey case has drawn national attention.  More than 500 individuals and 25 organizations have filed friend-of-the-court briefs on both sides of the issue.

Several groups, including the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, argue that marriage is supposed to be a union between one man and one woman.  Extending marriage rights to same- sex couples could weaken the institution and hurt children, according to the briefs.

But gay marriage advocates believe they have a shot at getting the state's top court to allow same-sex unions in a moderate state like New Jersey.  The state Supreme Court was among the first in the nation to overturn bans on sodomy and rule in favor of gay adoption.

The state also passed a domestic partnership act in 2004 to give homosexual couples some rights.  So far, 3,773 gay couples have registered as domestic partners under the new law, which gives them the right to inherit from a partner who dies without a will and the right to visit a partner in the hospital.

Activists on both sides of the issue are expected to rally again today in Trenton as the Supreme Court hears the case.  The court's ruling is expected in a few weeks.

Last night's rally began with the crowd singing "This Land Is Your Land."  They also watched a video recorded by Laurel Hester, a terminally ill former investigator with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office who successfully fought to have her death and pension benefits go to her domestic partner.

Dane Wells, Hester's former law enforcement partner, said Hester was in a coma as of yesterday morning and was not expected to live long.  Her domestic partner, Stacie Andree, was by her side, he said.

Wells called on same-sex marriage supporters to continue their fight in Hester's memory.

"No human being in 21st-century America should be treated by their government as Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree were," Wells said.