Ocean Grove Civil Union Ban Violates Law

May 10, 2007

OCEAN GROVE—The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association's policy banning same-sex civil unions at the boardwalk pavilion appears to violate the law and should be reversed, state Public Advocate Ronald Chen said Wednesday.

The prohibition has angered some gay and lesbian residents, because it came after New Jersey legalized same-sex civil unions.

Some residents and business owners say they're troubled by the policy because of Ocean Grove's reputation as a welcoming community.

Chen issued his statement after an inquiry by the Asbury Park Press. Public Advocate spokeswoman Nancy Parello said they had received no other inquiries or complaints prior to that.

Scott Hoffman, the Camp Meeting Association's chief administrative officer, said the association's four approved locations for weddings and other ceremonies could not be used for the same-sex unions because the association adhere(s) to the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline in the use of our church facilities, which does not recognize the unions.

Hoffman said earlier published reports about the controversy that stated the association bans same-sex civil unions from the beach or boardwalk proper — while allowing other wedding ceremonies there — are inaccurate because the association does not allow any weddings or similar ceremonies except in four specific locations.

The sites are the boardwalk pavilion, the Bishop Janes Tabernacle, Thornley Chapel and the Youth Temple. Event coordinators help with the planning, he said.
If people had them on the beach or the boardwalk, that's not something that we have orchestrated, Hoffman said. There has never been a sanctioned wedding on the boardwalk or the beach.

When asked what the association would do if a same-sex couple simply appeared at the pavilion and took part in a civil union ceremony, Hoffman said, I don't think I probably should answer that. I just don't know.

He said the association asserts that it has the authority to ban same-sex civil unions by virtue of the unique legislation that sets aside the beach and boardwalk areas for the camp meeting and the mission of the camp meeting.

But Frank Askin, head of the Rutgers Law School's Constitutional Law Clinic in Newark, said that the association would have a stronger argument if it limited the use of those facilities only to members of the community.

As long as they open it up to the public, it becomes a public accommodation, he said. I don't think they can discriminate, and New Jersey is pretty strict on that.

Lee Moore, spokesman for state Attorney General Stuart Rabner, said Rabner would have no comment for now.

Neptune Deputy Mayor Randy Bishop — owner of a bed and breakfast in Ocean Grove and one of the first New Jersey elected officials to be joined in a same-sex civil union once they were formally recognized by the state — said he was disturbed by the controversy.

Bishop said that he can understand the association having to abide by religious dictates, but not why non-religious structures — such as the pavilion — would be off-limits to same-sex couples.

It saddens me that people who are honestly quite intimately involved in the community would be denied not religious structures, not going to the chapel or the auditorium, but places that really help define this community, he said. There is a significant gay and lesbian population in Ocean Grove, and people here tend to be for the most part very open and very accepting.

People are concerned, people are upset, and they want to see some resolution to this, he said.

Some business owners echoed Bishop's concern.

Barbara Bovaso, co-owner of the Bellevue Stratford Inn on Main Avenue, said she hoped the association would deal with the issue in the best way possible without discriminating against anyone.

I think people who want to dedicate themselves to one another, I don't care what their sexuality is, if they want to dedicate their lives for each other, that's a fabulous thing, she said.

Bovaso said she also is concerned that the ban could be blown up into a major issue.

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