Can the Adults Please Smoke? - Naughty Nine — Page 157

Did pattifan say PASSPORT???

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*pants with anticipation*

Okay. It's our secret.

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*goes to wait at the airport*

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So...what's the news New Jersey???

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Well, would owning a green coat preclude the need of a green card? Not sure how that would work. Oh, I have a green sweater, too.

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The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled today that the state Constitution entitles same-sex couples to all the legal benefits of marriage, but by another name.
The high court adopted an approach similar to that taken by the Vermont Supreme Court in 1999, which ruled lawmakers can reserve the term "marriage" for the union of one man and one woman, but must grant all couples equal legal protections. Vermont lawmakers responded by allowing same-sex couples to form "civil unions."
When the case was argued on Feb. 15, David Buckel, the lawyer for the gay rights organization Lambda Legal, urged the justices to reject that option.
"The message is still there: 'Not married.' It creates a stigma the New Jersey Constitution does not allow," Buckel told the justices.
Even so, today's ruling exponentially increases the legal benefits available to same-sex couples who formalize their unions. A 2004 law allowing same-sex couples to form "domestic partnerships" gave them only a fraction of the more than 800 rights conferred by marriage, albeit some of the most important ones. There are an estimated 20,000 same-sex couples living together in the Garden State.
Connecticut also allows same-sex couples to form civil unions. Only Massachusetts allows same-sex couples to marry, under a 2003 ruling by that state's highest court.

Contributed by Robert Schwaneberg and Tom Hester

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Updated On: 10/25/06 at 03:20 PM

I don't care, Robb. You're still not marrying pattifan.

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I'm not fighting with you, I'm fighting OVER you.

*hides patti in her green coat*

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Updated On: 10/25/06 at 03:33 PM

*snuggles*

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Okay, now I'm confused. The PM'd proposal was just a fake one then, Boobs. Gosh, you're so fickle!

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no, i'm gonna civil union you.

"boobs, will you civil union me?"

"civil union me!"

"i'm so excited. today we go to get our civil union license!"

"poor guy, he's stuck in a sexless civil union."

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"It's a civil union of convenience."

"Are you civil unioned to that idea?"

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Hi Moony.

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