AP: Gay Marriage Bill Delivered To NJ Governor

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — A bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New Jersey was delivered Friday to the state’s Republican governor, who has vowed to veto it.

Both the state Assembly and Senate passed the gay marriage proposal this week.

Gov. Chris Christie opposes gay marriage. He has vowed “very swift action” once the bill reached his desk.

Christie’s spokesmen didn’t immediately return emails seeking comment Friday.

The governor and most Republican lawmakers want the issue decided by public vote. But Democrats maintain that gay marriage is a civil right protected by the Constitution and isn’t subject to popular vote.

Six states and Washington, D.C., allow gay marriage. Washington state’s new gay marriage law is set to go into effect in June.

Thirty states have adopted constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriages, most by defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

If vetoed, the bill would need several Republican votes in each house to override the governor. Christie himself essentially guaranteed that that won’t happen.

Instead, Democrats who identified same-sex marriage as their No. 1 priority for the two-year legislative session that began in January plan to bide their time in hopes that support for gay marriage — 52 percent for gay marriage, 42 against it, in New Jersey, according to one recent voter poll — will continue to grow.

Another gay marriage supporter, Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire, has reached out to Christie, a practicing Catholic. Gregoire sent the governor a letter last month offering to talk about gay marriage because, in her words, “while I am a Governor, I am also a Catholic.”

The Roman Catholic Church opposes same-sex marriage.

Gregoire signed a gay marriage measure into law in Washington on Monday. Her spokeswoman, Karina Shagren, said Christie hasn’t responded.