Second DPA Anniversary Passes Quietly

July 10, 2006

TRENTON—Monday, July 10, 2006, marks the beginning of the third year that same-sex couples in New Jersey could register as domestic partners. The New Jersey Domestic Partnership Act, which was signed into law on January 12, 2004 by then-Governor McGreevey, became effective 180 days later on July 10. Since that date, over 4,000 couples have registered in New Jersey.

The actual number of registered domestic partnerships in New Jersey may be higher than this, since the state recognizes couples who have registered in other locations, including Vermont, Hawaii, Connecticut, California, and Maine, as well as in municipal registries in cities such as Seattle, New York, and Key West.

This number also represents only about 20-25% of the state's estimated 16,000 to 22,000 same-sex couples. Reasons for this low number are varied. Some couples simply do not wish to register their relationship, and would not do so even if marriage was an available option. For example, slightly less than one-half (8,000) of Massachusetts' estimated 17,000 same-sex couples have married in that state.

However, another reason for the relatively low figure in New Jersey may have to do with the high-profile campaign waged by marriage advocates. downplaying and denigrating domestic partnership as a inferior and flawed status for same-sex couples.

Make no mistake, domestic partnership is not marriage and does not provide anything more than a subset of the rights that opposite-couples enjoy in this and other states. However, the attitude that domestic partnership is completely unacceptable is harmful in that it discourages many couples from obtaining important rights, such as inheritance rights, that are otherwise denied them, and it does a significant disservice to the gay and lesbian community.

Few of the 4,000-plus couples who have registered have confused the limited rights under the Domestic Partnership Act with the far-more extensive set of rights of marriage. If and when marriage becomes an available option in New Jersey, it is expected that many of these couples will marry, although some may not. But the rights available under the DPA are available now, and not in some hoped-for future, and they are rights that are denied to same-sex couples in the states surrounding New Jersey.

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