New Jersey Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden/Burlington) released the following statement Friday on Rhode Island’s enactment of marriage equality:
“I am overjoyed to see our colleagues in Rhode Island vote to affirm our fundamental constitutional values of equality and justice in passing marriage equality. Legislative leaders and Governor Chafee deserve congratulations for this accomplishment.
“However, this news is bittersweet for countless New Jersey families forced to suffer through a failed civil union experiment that enshrines discrimination into our laws. While eight states in the Northeast have now made marriage equality the law of the land, New Jersey continues to lag behind.
“It is particularly striking to me that Rhode Island State Senate Republicans unanimously supported marriage equality. Perhaps the vast majority of New Jersey Republican legislators who are obstructing fundamental justice and equality should take a lesson from their peers to the north.
“It’s time for New Jersey Republicans to ditch their discriminatory ideology and start standing up for true family values by embracing marriage equality.”