N.J. civil unions bring plenty of yawns in Chelsea

Volume One, Issue 20, February 9- 15, 2007

By Chris Lombardi

What a difference seven years makes.

In two weeks, local gay couples for the first time won’t have to drive five hours to Vermont, or even two hours to Connecticut, if they want the legal certificate known as a “civil union.”

They can get on a PATH train to Newark or Jersey City, or take NY Waterways’ ferry to Weehawken from the 39th Street Ferry Terminal. Thanks to legislation signed by New Jersey Governor John Corzine in December, unmarried couples will be able to get a New Jersey civil union — a document that entails all of the rights and obligations granted by the state to married couples.

The move has prompted Garden State Equality, an LGBT advocacy organization, to plan a “Civil Unions/Momentum to Marriage Week” celebration as New Jersey couples get set to unite.

Seven years ago, when then-Gov. Howard Dean signed a similar bill in Vermont, many New Yorkers made their way north to trade rings and declare themselves “unioned.”

But there has been no such rush to New Jersey: no flood of reservations on the ferry, no buzz on the street. Local legislators like State Senator Tom Duane and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, as well as locally based gay organizations like Empire State Pride Agenda, report that no one is calling their offices, even to ask whether they should go.

The reason may be that more people are now aware of the limitations of civil unions — of the meaning of the phrase “rights under the state constitution.”

“I think New Yorkers are more savvy now,” said Duane’s chief of staff, Laura Morrison. “If it were marriage, it would be different, I think.”

In 2000, gay couples all over the country, including New York, got all dressed up, packed into vans and airplanes, and went to Vermont after Dean signed the civil unions bill.

Some, like Detroit News columnist Deb Price, did it for one reason: for “proof of relationship” in case of a medical emergency. That way, observed the New York Times, “it will be easier for a doctor to understand instantly that the other is effectively a spouse and should participate accordingly in decision making.”

But that was before 2004, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began to marry gay couples, and before 2005, when gay marriages began in Massachusetts. It was also before a string of incidents — some high-profile — during which local entities like insurance companies and emergency rooms looked at a civil union certificate and told couples, “You’re not married!”

Gay leaders and lawyers fighting for recognition of same-sex couples are getting only a trickle of calls. They’re also divided about whether a civil union can help couples who don’t live in New Jersey — or even those that do.

Marino-Thomas, of Marriage Equality New York, said only a few dozen New Yorkers have called and e-mailed the organization to ask what they should do. “I tell them they should talk to their lawyer,” she said. “My personal opinion is -— don’t do it.”

Marino-Thomas said that many local authorities, including hospital officials, still dismiss an out-of-state civil union because they can. And “if they live in New Jersey and work in New York, when they come to New York to work every day, they have nothing once they cross the bridge,” she said.

In addition, the states that allow out-of-state civil unions, like Vermont, still require a year or two of residency before allowing a civil union to be dissolved, said Marino-Thomas. “You could end up getting a civil union, then having to move, in order to dissolve the union and partnering with anyone else.”

The same concern was expressed by Anthony Brown, executive director of The Wedding Party and a lawyer specializing in estate planning for gay couples. He said that not a single New Yorker has called his organization asking about a civil union, though about a half-dozen of his law clients have done so.

If they do, Brown adds, “I ask them, have you considered moving to New Jersey?”

Brown said, however, that a civil union certificate can occasionally be useful — in regions where there is no other possible documentation in a person’s home state — but that a domestic-partners registration, available at City Hall for about $50, offers the same protection.

Brown would recommend that a New York couple consider a civil union only “if a couple were contemplating a move to N.J. in the near future, or if one partner worked for a New Jersey-based company” that would honor the civil union and provide spousal benefits.

Meanwhile, a few New Yorkers do appear to be reaching for the promise of a New Jersey civil union — if only for the promise of a good party.

Eddy Sousa, who runs Sandy Hook Cottage Bed and Breakfast with his partner, Mick Evangeliste, has had queries from a handful of New York couples ever since he set up a civil union website: http://jerseyshoregayweddings.com.

Sousa said he felt that he was helping the marriage fight go further by supporting civil unions, albeit for a fee (Sandy Hook’s offers include an “elopement package” that includes the fees for the civil union or marriage itself, along with the champagne).

Logo TV and Lambda Legal Defense Fund have contacted him. “It’s a step forward,” he said.

Still, most New Yorkers, and Chelseans, appear to be waiting and seeing. Not a single call, even asking about civil unions, has come into the offices of local legislators — like Quinn or Duane.

Morrison said that without full marriage rights like those in the Duane-Gottfried gay-marriage bill, New Yorkers know they’re not protected.

“New Yorkers have a right to equal protection under the law,” Morrison said. “And separate is not equal.”