Christie: Obama Should Be "Pissed" About Timing of Huntsman's Campaign

Responding to a question about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's criticism that former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman served as the Obama administration's ambassador to China, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suggested the president should be "pissed" about the timing of his presidential campaign.

"I would be kind of pissed if I were Barack Obama--I mean I give this guy a job, he's over in China supposedly serving my administration," said Christie, who appeared at a town hall with "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in Manchester on Jan. 8. "I wonder a little bit about Huntsman's integrity."

Romney questioned Huntsman's ambassadorship and his previous pro-Obama statements during the latest Republican presidential debate in Concord earlier in the day.

Christie's appearance came hours after he clashed with Occupy protesters at an Exeter town hall with Romney and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte. His remarks also coincided with news that New Jersey lawmakers plan to introduce a bill on Monday that would legalize marriage for same-sex couples in the Garden State.

Christie, who supports civil unions, has said he would veto any marriage equality bill. He did not discuss the measure during his Manchester appearance with Scarborough and Brzezinski.

Menendez Endorses Marriage Equality, DOMA Repeal Bill

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez endorsed marriage for same-sex couples in an op-ed that ran in the Star-Ledger on Sunday, Dec. 18.

“This comes down to an issue of fundamental fairness,” he wrote. “For me, this comes down to the principles I learned as the child of immigrants and that I cherish as an American: that we believe in equality for all people under the law.”

Menendez, who voted for the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, is the 32nd Senate sponsor of a bill that would repeal the Clinton-era law.

“Across our country, the attitudes of millions of Americans have changed on this issue and several states have acted to guarantee the freedom to marry to same-sex couples whose love for each other and life commitment to one another is no different from other couples,” he wrote. “These gay men and gay women defend our streets and our citizens as firefighters and police officers; they are small-business people who create jobs; they are teachers who prepare our children to compete in the future. And they are soldiers, Marines and sailors who have put their lives on the line for our country, fighting to protect our freedoms and to combat terrorists who threaten to attack us again.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee last month voted 10-8 to advance the DOMA repeal bill. A Human Rights Campaign and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll found that 51 percent of respondents oppose the Clinton-era law, but it remains unlikely that the DOMA repeal bill will pass during the current Congress.

Can Chris Christie Save the GOP?

Can New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie save the Republican Party?

The sharp-tongued former federal prosecutor has repeatedly said he has no intentions to run for president, but speculation continues to rage as to whether Christie will seek the Republican nomination in 2012. It is clear that Republicans are desperate for someone who is arguably more electable than Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann or even Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to enter the race. Christie is expected to (once again) announce his intentions by the end of the week. Will Republican operatives and donors who remain lukewarm over the current field of candidates be disappointed?

Probably, but things could potentially change faster than Snooki can make headlines for her boardwalk exploits. Stay tuned!

Christie doomed NJ marriage vote

New Jersey activists continue to point the finger at incoming Gov. Chris Christie as the primary reason lawmakers defeated a bill earlier today that would have allowed marriage for same-sex couples.

Garden State Equality and Lambda Legal announced minutes after the state Senate voted 14-20 against the measure they would challenge the civil unions law in court. But GSE's Steven Goldstein was quick to maintain the election results made all the difference.

"We lost for one reason: Jon Corzine," he said. "Jon Corzine lost; Chris Christie won."

Indeed, Christie has repeatedly maintained he would veto any bill that would allow gays and lesbians to marry. And he reportedly pressured Republican lawmakers in both the state Assembly and Senate to oppose the measure--state Sen. Brian Baroni [R-Hamilton] is the only GOP legislator who voted in support of the bill.

"Christie is a politician," another political insider told Boy in Bushwick. "Christie is a professional politician and Corzine was not. And that made all the difference."

Politics is indeed local!

New Jersey lawmakers to vote on marriage bill

Activists remain optimistic about the prospects of marriage for same-sex couples in New Jersey in spite of the fact it appears unlikely a measure that will allow gays and lesbians to tie the knot in the Garden State will pass.

The state Senate is scheduled to vote on the measure later today in Trenton. The bill's sponsors successfully postponed a vote last month in order to garner additional support.

Today's vote comes less than a week after gays and lesbians began to legally marry in New Hampshire, roughly a month after the New York State Senate voted 36-24 against marriage and more than two months after Maine voters approved a referendum that overturned a law that had allowed same-sex couples to marry in the Pine Tree State. It appears likely marriage will not advance in New Jersey, but today's vote will almost certainly have implications for those within the national movement for LGBT rights as they contemplate a new strategy to advance relationship recognition around the country.

New Jersey Senate committee approves bill to allow gays and lesbians to marry

The New Jersey state Senate's Judiciary Committee voted 7-6 last night to approve a bill that would allow gays and lesbians to marry.

The measure will go before the full Senate on Thursday. And Steven Goldstein, executive director of Garden State Equality, remained optimistic about the chances lawmakers would approve the bill.

"The marriage equality movement in America starts again right here," he told supporters in Trenton.

The committee's vote came less than a week after the New York State Senate defeated a bill that would have allowed gays and lesbians to marry in the Empire State. And it also comes a little more than a month after Maine voters approved a referendum that overturned their state's law that had allowed nuptials for same-sex couples.



It remains unclear as to whether the bill has enough support in the New Jersey state Senate to pass. It remains obvious, however, the Garden State could provide the movement for marriage for gays and lesbians a desperately needed shot in the arm after what has been a disastrous few weeks. Stay tuned...

Garden State Equality launches marriage ad campaign

Less than 24 hours after former federal prosecutor Chris Christie defeated incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, Garden State Equality's ads in support of marriage for same-sex couples have begun to air across New Jersey.

The advocacy has rolled out two television ads in support of nuptials for gays and lesbians.

Bloomberg wins, Corzine loses, Maine too close to call

With 97 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press has declared Mayor Michael Bloomberg the winner of the city's mayoral campaign with 51 percent of the vote. City Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., has garnered 46 percent.

Across the Hudson River, former federal prosecutor Chris Christie upset incumbent New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. Christie garnered 50 percent of the vote. Corzine received 44 percent. And independent candidate Chris Daggett garnered 5 percent.

Christie's election could have major implications on the future of marriage for same-sex couples in the Garden State, but it remains unclear as to whether the referendum that seeks to repeal nuptials for gays and lesbians in Maine has succeeded. The Portland Press Herald reports 50.12 percent of Maine voters cast their ballots against the referendum versus 49.88 of those who supported it.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Authorities charge dozens of New Jersey lawmakers, rabbis in massive corruption sting

For those who may naively conclude New York lawmakers have a monopoly on less than ethical political practices, the arrest of dozens of politicians and rabbis yesterday across the Hudson River in a massive corruption sting has once again proven something continues to stink in New Jersey.

Federal authorities arrested Hoboken Mayor Peter J. Cammarano, III, who took office less than a month ago, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell and Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez early yesterday morning. Others taken into custody include Assemblymembers L. Harvey Smith [D-Jersey City] and Daniel Van Pelt [R-Ocean County], Mariano Vega, Jr., president of the City Council in Jersey City, Brooklyn Rabbi Saul Kassin and leaders of a synagogue in tony Deal in Monmouth County. Law enforcement officials took a total of 44 people into custody. And they have been charged with money laundering, accepting bribes and a host of other related charges.

This massive sting will certainly continue to have potentially serious repercussions in the contentious gubernatorial campaign between Gov. Jon Corzine and former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie. Joseph Doria, Jr., commissioner of the state's Department of Community Affairs, resigned hours after authorities searched is Bayonne home in connection with the sting. Corzine has also called upon Smith and Van Pelt to resign.

The breadth of this massive corruption will continue to unfold, but the fact remains there is something endemically wrong with politics in New Jersey. And this sting simply highlights the unfortunate reality much work lays ahead to tackle this albatross that continues to rear its ugly neck around the state.

Civil Unions vs. Marriage

Civil unions represent progress to many activists within the movement for LGBT rights towards full marriage for same-sex couples. In fact, this position remains the national movement's de facto stance in its talking points, messages and other public statements. Yet this idea, which came into being after the Vermont Supreme Cout mandated lawmakers in the Green Mountain State to extend recognition to gay and lesbian couples in 1999, raises several problems as detailed in my feature in Gay.com. Nothing remains cut and dry. And this issue remains squarely among them.

With New Hampshire's civil unions law slated to take effect within weeks, the University of New Hampshire is struggling to address how the statute will impact the benefits it currently offers to the partners of its gay and lesbian employees. The state has announced it will no longer offer domestic partner benefits, but local activists contend they remain necessary because of health care, adoption and other concerns.

"Our position is that you should not end DP benefits because not everyone is going to enter into civil unions," New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Executive Director Mo Baxley told Gay.com in a recent interview from her office in Concord, New Hampshire. "Those are very legitimate issues."

UNH officials declined to comment, but they are among employers in New Hampshire and other states that have had to address these concerns as legislation extending legal protections and recognition to gay and lesbian couples takes effect.

Carol Buckheit, associate director of the Hartford, Conn.-based Love Makes a Family, said a number of same-sex couples called her organization with concerns about their DP benefits after the state's civil unions law took effect in October 2005. She did not identify specific cases in which employees lost their benefits. But Buckheit maintained that these concerns highlight the need for same-sex nuptials.

"What we're seeing is a patchwork of laws across the country: domestic partnerships, civil unions and marriage in Massachusetts," she said. "States are struggling with how to deal with each other's patchwork of laws [and] in our view the solution is marriage."

Garden State Equality Executive Director Steven Goldstein echoed this conclusion. New Jersey's civil unions law, which took effect in February, did not automatically upgrade the domestic partnerships of same-sex couples who registered after former Gov. James E. McGreevy created a registry in 2004. Goldstein estimates nearly 1,800 gay and lesbian couples have taken advantage of the new law. But he quickly concluded it fails to provide the full range of protections that marriage affords.

"More and more couples are waiting for marriage because they see that New Jersey's civil union law is a total fiasco, failing to work to provide all the rights [and] benefits of marriage," Goldstein said.

Basic Rights Oregon executive director John Hummel took a more nuanced approach in response to the domestic partnership bill Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed into law in May. He conceded the statute only extends state benefits to same-sex couples that their heterosexual counterparts automatically receive through marriage. But Hummel told Gay.com he feels it benefits both businesses and gay and lesbian couples whose employers and municipalities may not have recognized their relationships.

"It has been a patchwork quilt of coverage with some companies and some cities and counties providing domestic partner benefits and others that didn't," he said. "It would be beneficial for businesses in the state because it would be one rule."

Hummel added BRO is planning to distribute literature and other information about the law once it takes effect on January 1.

"I know there is a lot of excitement among same-sex couples who have waited so long for their rights," he said. "We are preparing materials for people so they can understand their new rights under the law."

Oregon, California, Vermont and Hawai'i are among the handful of states which either legally recognize same-sex couples or extend legal protections and benefits through domestic partnerships and civil unions. Massachusetts remains the only state to allow gays and lesbians to marry. Freedom to Marry executive director Evan Wolfson affirmed the conclusion that marriage remains the only solution for same-sex couples.

"The creation of a separate state-level legal status, whether called civil union or partnership, unnecessarily complicates the lives of the families and the businesses and others they deal with," he told Gay.com in an e-mail. "The easiest and right solution is to end exclusion from marriage itself, rather than constructing new legal mechanisms that present equal treatment and inclusion."

Baxley agreed.

"As more of these stories become public, we're going to be back in a couple of years... and finish the job," she said.

Garden Staters Favor Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

Boy in Bushwick officially turns 26 today as he further embarks upon his mid-twenties journey. The movement for LGBT rights, however, charges on with a study Garden State Equality released ahead of the sixth month anniversary of the law which extended civil unions to gay and lesbian couples which found most New Jersey residents favor same-sex nuptials.

The Zogby survey polled 803 Garden State voters. It found 63 percent would support lawmakers' decision to extend marriage to same-sex couples. The survey also reported 61 percent of New Jersey voters said they feel marriage will become a reality for gay and lesbian couples in two years. Some activists within the national movement for LGBT rights discredit Zogby but GSE Chair Steven Goldstein understandably praised the results.

"Regardless of whether any public official supports marriage equality or wants to maintain the state's failed civil unions law, no official in New Jersey can credibly say that marriage for gay couples is a divisive issue in the state," he said.

Failed? Activists on the ground in New Jersey continue to maintain the civil unions bill is one step towards eventual marriage for same-sex couples. The 2008 presidential candidates, especially those who see New Jersey as a lucrative prize in the primary process, may disagree as U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York indicated during last week's Logo debate in Los Angeles. This poll certainly provides Goldstein and his supporters ammunition with which they can use to lobby lawmakers after this November's local elections. The debate, however, will obviously rage on as other states debate this issue.