CAMDEN (October 25, 2006) — We are pleased that the New Jersey Supreme Court has affirmed that there is no fundamental right to “gay marriage” under the state constitution and has referred the matter to the State Legislature, which is the appropriate body to develop social policy for the people of New Jersey.
Marriage is by its very essence an exclusive, life-long union between a man and a woman. It is distinct in essence from every other arrangement because of the physical, biological and psychological complementarity between a man and a woman that is essential to the transmission of life, a strong marriage bond and stable families. Marriage is not just a private matter. Society has long had an interest in protecting and promoting marriage as fundamentally important to the well-being of society.
In our own time, the United States Congress, the United States Supreme Court and virtually every state in the Union has legally regulated and protected it. So-called “gay marriage” is impossible due to the nature of marriage and the complementarity that is essential to it.
They cannot be equated because they are different in essence. Efforts which seek to equate marriage with homosexual unions trivialize marriage, undermine it and hurt society. Justice requires that efforts to legalize other unions as marriage always be opposed, as we uphold the integrity of marriage as well as the dignity of the homosexual person.