Gov. Christie Would Not Sign Same-Sex Marriage Bill in New Jersey
On the heels of New York's legalization of gay marriage, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he is "not a fan of same-sex marriage" and would not sign a bill to legalize the practice in his state.
In an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press" Sunday, Christie told host David Gregory that his state will stick with its civil union law.
"We had a very vigorous debate in late 2009, early 2010 - before I became governor - about same-sex marriage, and it failed in the state legislature under a Democratic legislature with Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. And so my view on it is, in our state we're going to continue to pursue civil unions," said the Republican governor.
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"I am not a fan of same-sex marriage," asserted Christie. "It's not something that I support."
In the Garden State, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), the state’s only openly gay lawmaker, has proposed a bill (A4130) to legalize same-sex marriage. The New Jersey bill was introduced during the same week that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced a gay marriage bill, which passed days later in the Assembly and on Friday in the Senate.
But even if the gay marriage bill does make it through the New Jersey legislature this time around , Christie, who is a Catholic like Cuomo, said he would not sign it into law.
"I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman. That's my view, and that'll be the view of our state because I wouldn't sign a bill that - like the one that was in New York," said Christie.
The New Jersey governor has been an opponent of gay marriage but a supporter of homosexual civil unions.
In a recent interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, Christie said, however, that he doesn't view homosexuality as a sin.
"Well my religion says it’s a sin. I mean I think - but for me? I don’t - I’ve always believed that people are born with the predisposition to be homosexual, and so I think if someone is born that way, it’s very difficult to say then that that’s a sin,” said Christie.
“But I understand that my Church says that, but for me personally, I don’t look upon someone who’s homosexual as a sinner.”
