Yesterday the New Jersey House and Senate passed legislation to legalize civil unions, making it the third state to do so. I’m finding myself both excited and disappointed at the same time. Disappointed because I was hoping that New Jersey would follow same path as Massachusetts and legalize marriage, yet excited because every victory, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction.

Even if NJ’s civil union legislation grants the same rights as marriage (at this point I don’t know if it does or not) the fact remains that by calling it something other than marriage they are in essence making gays second class citizens. Separate but equal is not truly equal. True equality requires us to all have the exact same rights under the same laws, not “special laws” for one group of citizens.

Civil unions are certainly a step forward for NJ and I’m glad that they’re going to get them instead of having nothing, but I do hope that at some point in the future the Legislature revisits the issue and legalizes gay marriage.

What I’m also interested to see is what happens if a lot of the gays in NYC start crossing over the river and getting married and then cross back over and demand that they be recognized? Might we see gay marriage in NY soon? With a new Democratic Governor it could certainly be a possibility.