Today Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald released the following statement upon the news that Governor Lincoln Chafee (I-RI) has ordered, via executive order, all state agencies to officially recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in jurisdictions that have marriage equality:
“I applaud Governor Chafee’s action, which moves his state one step closer to the full marriage equality that every family rightfully deserves under our Constitution. I call on Governor Christie to follow Governor Chafee’s lead and immediately issue an executive order recognizing legally performed out-of-state same-sex marriages in New Jersey.
“Governor Christie’s response to a failed civil union experiment that denies true equality to our state’s families has been an offer to create a Civil Union Ombudsman. But struggling same-sex families in New Jersey don’t need another layer of bureaucratic red tape, they need full equality under the law.
“The Governor’s indefensible marriage equality veto places him firmly as the sole obstructionist to full equality for same-sex families. It’s time for him to start showing some leadership by signing an executive order to recognize legally-performed out-of-state same-sex marriages in our state.”