Gary Sabock, left, and his partner, Joshua Bloom, were already getting ready Saturday for their marriage in New Jersey Monday.
Romance and bureaucracy are rarely a good match. But this weekend, gay couples in New Jersey are hurrying to overcome administrative hurdles, and plan weddings, before a court ruling that allows same-sex marriage in the state officially takes effect early on Monday.
Hundreds of couples have made calls seeking help from Garden State Equality, a group that campaigns for gay rights, on how to get married as quickly as possible, said Troy Stevenson, its executive director.
Some couples are expected to be married just after midnight, while the rules will require others to wait a few hours or even days longer.
“Some have been together for 30 or 40 years, some of them like the symbolism of the early wedding, and there are some couples where it’s vital — people who are ill, where a day might make all the difference,” Mr. Stevenson said. “People normally have months if not years to plan a wedding, and we have days.”
But some couples have long anticipated the idea.
When prospects of a possible breakthrough for same-sex marriage in New Jersey seemed to brighten months ago, Joshua Bloom, 44, proposed to his partner of 15 years, Gary Sabock, 50, and the couple had rings made out of a pair of Mr. Bloom’s mother’s diamond earrings. “We were determined to get married in New Jersey, absolutely,” Mr. Bloom said. “It’s our home.”
Mr. Sabock, right, and Mr. Bloom picked out ties for their wedding.
A State Superior Court judge ruled last month that the state had to allow same-sex marriage to comply with a United States Supreme Court ruling in June and a 2006 ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court that same-sex couples were entitled to all of the rights and benefits of marriage. The Christie administration appealed, and on Friday, the court unanimously denied its request for a stay on marriages until the appeal was settled.
Mr. Bloom called the court to check on the status of the same-sex marriage ruling a half-dozen times on Friday.
As soon as it was announced, he jumped into a cab to City Hall in Jersey City to apply for a marriage license.
Mr. Sabock made the journey from work in Midtown Manhattan to Jersey City in precisely 36 minutes to join him. Mr. Bloom’s parents acted as witnesses to the application.
The $28 license they received was not, however, the final obstacle to a speedy marriage. According to state law, they still had to hold off for a 72-hour waiting period before marrying. That would expire for them about 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
But about the same time they were standing in a clerk’s office on Friday, Mayor Steven M. Fulop of Jersey City was overseeing an effort to waive the waiting period for marriages to allow same-sex marriages to take place as soon as possible.
“Doing it early is both symbolic and legally protects the families,” Mr. Fulop said. But the mayor was told to return to court on Monday morning, after the ruling had officially taken effect.
Mr. Bloom and Mr. Sabock intend to go to court at 8:30 a.m. to request their waiting requirement be waived, and hope to be married by Mr. Fulop soon afterward.
For others, said Mr. Stevenson of Garden State Equality, the organization was lining up judges who could sign individual waivers on Sunday.
Other couples had been able to obtain marriage licenses before the Friday ruling, and will most likely be married shortly after midnight, since their 72-hour waiting period will have already expired.
And the waiting period does not apply to gay couples who have already been married in other states.
Over the weekend, more than a dozen city halls in New Jersey were open to allow new applications, Mr. Stevenson said, despite reports of computer and phone problems in some cases.
“It was a little bit chaotic,” Mr. Stevenson said, “but it will be a great day on Monday.”
Photo: Michael Appleton
Author: Ravi Somaiya
Publisher: The New York Times
Date: 19 October 2013