Some N.J. Mayors Say They Won't Unite Gays

Dec. 8, 2006 --Mayors, county clerks, judges and others who refuse to conduct civil union ceremonies for gays could violate New Jersey's anti- discrimination law, legal experts said Thursday.

Still, some officials said they will stand by their moral or religious beliefs no matter the consequences.

New Jersey law authorizes ordained ministers and about a half- dozen types of public officials to solemnize marriages. In answer to a Supreme Court order, the Legislature is expected next week to vote on a bill to permit "marriages and civil unions" which would include homosexuals.

"No! I'm not doing it!" Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan said. "They're not going to force me to do civil unions. They're going to have to put a gun to my head. Even then it's going to be a challenge."

Freedom of religion allows the clergy to reject couples who seek to marry. Elected and appointed officials, however, don't have that option. They've taken an oath to uphold state law, which since 1992 has banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.

"If you are a judge or a mayor or other person in New Jersey who does not want to perform any kind of [homosexual] relationship- recognizing ceremony, you're going to be in a bind," said Sally Goldfarb, a Rutgers law professor and expert on New Jersey constitutional law.

The easiest route for objectors, she said, would be to stop officiating all together.

"The law authorizes these people to perform marriages. It doesn't require them," she said. "They're going to have to, I think, either celebrate these relationships for everybody or for nobody."

Mayor Richard Mola of Elmwood Park who has presided over 1,000- plus ceremonies in his 35 years in office was curt Thursday when asked how he felt about uniting homosexuals.

"I haven't even given it a thought," he said.

Reminded that the Supreme Court had ordered the state Legislature to sanction same-sex ceremonies by April, Mola replied: "When that happens, I'll think about it."

Longtime Northvale Mayor John E. Rooney, defeated for reelection in November, sounded almost relieved to be leaving office at the end of the month.

"I would personally refuse if I were mayor," he said. "It's my religious beliefs. You're infringing on my religious rights."