Panel Finds Flaws with NJ Civil Unions Law

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February 20th, 2008

"Some Employers Not Recognizing Civil Unions"

A panel of official and legislative appointees released a report citing problems with New Jersey’s civil unions law, which was implemented last year as part of the state’s attempt to give homosexual couples the same rights as married heterosexuals.

Refusal of Benefits to Partners

According to the Civil Union Review Commission, some employers in the state refuse to recognize civil unions and provide benefits to the partners of employees who have entered into such a union.

Steven Goldstein, the chair of a leading gay-rights group in New Jersey, said that about 20 percent of the 2,500 couples who have entered into a civil union over the past year have complained about their employers not recognizing their unions.

Opponents of the civil unions law argue that employer benefits apply only to married heterosexual couples.

Civil Unions in the U.S.

New Jersey is the third state to implement a civil unions law. Massachusetts is the only state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage.

(Source: Boston Globe)

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