‘A polarization of the community’

I disagree with State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (Nov. 19) that the proposal for same-sex marriage is about equality for gay and lesbian couples. If that were the issue, she would propose fixing the flawed civil union statute to grant additional rights to gay/lesbian couples and anyone qualifying under the statute. Such a proposal would fly through both houses of the Legislature and would be signed by the governor.

The real motive is an attempt by segments of the secular and liberal religious community to impose its view that a gay relationship, together with the accompanying intimacy, is the same as that of a heterosexual marital relationship. That is something that no government or court should do. The very reluctance of the New Jersey Supreme Court to so redefine marriage is based on that fact. Both the government and the court ought to seek legislation on this issue that would gain as large a consensus as possible.

The result of this ill-conceived attempt is a polarization of the community, where conservative religious people (Orthodox Jews, Catholics, and evangelical Protestants) feel that their values are being shoved aside and they are excluded from the legislative process. In the end, legislation for rights that gays and lesbians should be entitled to won’t be passed.

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