Some N.J. mayors say
they won't unite gays
By ELISE YOUNG,
Trenton Bureau, NorthJersey.com Dec 8, 2006
Mayors, county clerks, judges and
others who refuse to conduct civil union ceremonies for gays could violate New
Jersey's anti-discrimination law, legal experts said Thursday.
Still, some officials said they will stand by their moral or religious beliefs
no matter the consequences.
New Jersey law authorizes ordained ministers and about a half-dozen types of
public officials to solemnize marriages. In answer to a Supreme Court
order, the Legislature is expected next week to vote on a bill to permit
"marriages and civil unions" -- which would include homosexuals.
"No! I'm not doing it!" Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan said. "They're
not going to force me to do civil unions. They're going to have to put a
gun to my head. Even then it's going to be a challenge."
Freedom of religion allows the clergy to reject couples who seek to marry.
Elected and appointed officials, however, don't have that option. They've
taken an oath to uphold state law, which since 1992 has banned discrimination
based on sexual orientation.
"If you are a judge or a mayor or other person in New Jersey who does not want
to perform any kind of [homosexual] relationship-recognizing ceremony, you're
going to be in a bind," said Sally Goldfarb, a Rutgers law professor and expert
on New Jersey constitutional law.
The easiest route for objectors, she said, would be to stop officiating all
together.
"The law authorizes these people to perform marriages. It doesn't require
them," she said. "They're going to have to, I think, either celebrate
these relationships for everybody or for nobody."
Mayor Richard Mola of Elmwood Park -- who has presided over 1,000-plus
ceremonies in his 35 years in office -- was curt Thursday when asked how he felt
about uniting homosexuals.
"I haven't even given it a thought," he said.
Reminded that the Supreme Court had ordered the state Legislature to sanction
same-sex ceremonies by April, Mola replied: "When that happens, I'll think
about it."
Longtime Northvale Mayor John E. Rooney, defeated for reelection in November,
sounded almost relieved to be leaving office at the end of the month.
"I would personally refuse if I were mayor," he said. "It's my religious
beliefs. You're infringing on my religious rights."
In January, Rooney, a Republican who also is a state assemblyman, was a
co-sponsor of a bill to void same-sex marriages. That bill has not moved
out of committee.
Frenchtown Mayor Ronald M. Sworen, president of the New Jersey Conference of
Mayors, said members haven't raised questions about their future role in
same-sex ceremonies. But he said he understood why some would object.
"A lot of it comes down to personal beliefs," Sworen said. "Doesn't a
person who has a strong religious belief have a civil right?"
Edward L. Barocas, legal director of the New Jersey chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union, suggested that in this case, public obligation outweighs
personal conviction.
"It would be the same as a public official saying, 'I'm not going to perform
your marriage because you're a Catholic who got divorced, and I don't believe in
divorce,' " he said. "If you are providing a good or service, which New
Jersey government officials do, then you cannot do so in a discriminatory
manner."
In recent years, lawmakers have sought -- and failed -- to increase the pool of
people who can perform weddings to include legislators themselves and lawyers.
The service is more or less unregulated: Judges cannot charge, but some
municipal officials keep their fees, and others require donations to municipal
coffers or charities.
Sen. Robert W. Singer, R-Ocean, sponsor of a pending bill to allow former mayors
to preside over marriages, predicted that some officials would make up their own
rules for civil unions.
"They could do weddings one day and they could be busy not to do it the next
day," he said. "You could say, 'I'm not doing weddings today.' "
Lonegan, the Bogota mayor, said he performs about two dozen marriages a year,
and officiated at one in which the groom "was so drunk he couldn't stand up."
He said he didn't object to adults who choose a particular lifestyle, but
resented that he would have a government-ordered role in their union.
"They can always get married with someone else," he said. "That actually
would be forcing their lifestyle on my beliefs. How do you justify such a
thing?"
Some mayors said the Supreme Court order was clear, and they would fulfill the
mandate.
"In reality it's similar to executing a contract between two individuals who
care about one another," said state Sen. Paul Sarlo, a Democrat who also is
mayor of Wood-Ridge. "I voted for the domestic-partnership bill. All
we're really doing is expanding the domestic-partnership bill to comply with the
court."
Peter Massa, a career police officer and the incoming mayor of North Arlington,
said he wasn't wild about the idea of performing marriages, if only because of
time constraints. He said he understood that he would have to perform
civil unions, as well.
"If you've got to do them, you've got to do them all," he said. "You can't
just pick and choose. Otherwise it would be discriminatory and deferential
and not fair. My feeling would be if it becomes law, I will comply with
the law. Simple as that."
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