Garden State Equality v. Dow

JACOBSON, A.J.S.C.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights organization called Garden State Equality, and six same-sex couples and their children, ask this court to enter summary *170judgment in their favor, by holding that the guarantees of equal protection contained in both the New Jersey and United States Constitutions require that civil marriage be extended to same-sex couples in New Jersey. Plaintiffs seek a ruling as a matter of constitutional law, not on the basis of a factual record, which is as of yet incomplete, but as a legal matter following the…