At 12:01 this morning, dozens of gay couples were joined in matrimony as New Jersey became the 14th state to allow same-sex marriage.
From city hall in Newark to the boardwalk in Asbury Park, pairs of brides and grooms tied the knot in joyous ceremonies that celebrated love while mindful of their newly granted legal status.
"It’s a historic day," said Amy Quinn, an attorney and councilwoman in Asbury Park who married her partner, Heather Jensen, on the boardwalk just after midnight. "To be able to get married in my home state, in a town that I adore, to be able to get married by friends, with friends, around friends, it’s such an amazing experience."
Quinn and Jensen, who have been together 10 years, were married in New York in June. At the time, Quinn said, she wasn’t certain she’d ever have a chance to wed in her home state.
But on Friday, their path was cleared when the state Supreme Court denied an attempt to delay a lower court’s order that New Jersey begin allowing same-sex couples to wed Oct. 21.
That decision, however, does not settle the issue. The state’s top court only ruled that weddings could take place while an appeal of the lower court’s order is considered. The state Supreme Court could prohibit gay marriage after it hears oral arguments on the case in January, though legal experts say last week’s decision makes that outcome unlikely.
