New Jersey governor continues battle to stop gay marriage in state

Chris Christie wants appeals court to consider emergency challenge to judge's order

The battle over same-sex marriage in New Jersey took another turn Oct 10 with Governor Chris Christie seeking an emergency appeal of a judge’s order allowing gay marriage in the state, WPTV reports.

Judge Mary Jacobson ruled Sept 27 that New Jersey had to allow same-sex marriage, beginning Oct 21. Christie’s administration asked for a stay of the Jacobson ruling and appealed it at the state Supreme Court. But Jacobson rejected the request for a stay, saying it would allow the state to continue violating gay couples’ rights, which “can hardly be considered a public interest,” ABC News reports.

Christie is now asking an appeals court judge to rule on an emergency challenge to Jacobson’s order.

Last year, Christie vetoed a same-sex marriage bill. During a gubernatorial debate earlier in the week, he reiterated his stance that marriage is between a man and a woman and that changes to the law ought to be decided by popular vote, not by the legislature or mandated by court order, according to a USA Today report.

New Jersey permits gay civil unions.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

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