(SAYREVILLE) – Assembly Deputy Speaker John S. Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) today issued the following statement concerning Governor Christie’s proposal for a referendum on the issue of marriage equality:
“I am disappointed to hear Governor Christie suggest that civil rights should be determined by popular vote. Anyone who has seriously looked at the century long struggle for civil rights in this country and around the world knows that it takes leadership to ensure that all men and women are treated fairly and equally in the eyes of the law. As a lawyer and a former U.S Prosecutor, the Governor should know better than to suggest the ballot as the proper place to determine anyone’s civil rights. New Jersey’s Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of marriage equality, a state commission has already determined the state’s civil union law falls short of marriage equality and the legislature is primed to pass legislation to provide marriage equality. The Governor should be joining with us instead of offering a proposal that is divisive and can only be categorized as a strategy to delay an inevitable justice.”