Read this story and explain to me again how the state’s new civil union legislation offers gays and lesbians the protections my wife and I enjoy.
Relevant paragraph:
Nevertheless, residents who work for companies headquartered in other states, and those whose insurers are based outside New Jersey, have found it difficult if not impossible to sign their partners up for health insurance. Unions and employers whose self-insured plans are federally regulated have also denied coverage in some cases. Staff members in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms have questioned partners’ role in decision-making. Confusion abounds over the interplay of state and federal laws governing taxes, inheritance and property.
Timothy Zimmer, a computer programmer in Newark quoted in the Times story, offers this:
“Apparently the civil union law gave us all the rights of marriage, except the ones we really need.”
And here’s what Steve Goldstein, chairman of the gay-rights group Garden State Equality, said in the same story:
“How can you call it equal protection when you have to go through hell maybe to get your civil union recognized?”
Seems a fair question.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Hank Kalet 