The National Organization for Marriage’s blog has the news on this huge defeat for gay-marriage advocates. Following a stunning defeat in the New York legislature, which many observers said would make passage in New Jersey more difficult, the powers that be in the New Jersey state senate have called it quits:

Yesterday, faced with the prospects of defeat in the Senate, bill sponsors Loretta Weinberg and Ray Lesniak petitioned Senate President Richard Codey to postpone the vote. It has now been postponed indefinitely!

Of course, Loretta Weinberg refuses to admit her defeat, but the evidence is indisputable. Four Democrat senators have now publicly stated their opposition to same-sex marriage, with just one Republican defector — virtually assuring the bill’s demise.

And our internal vote count suggests it could have been a landslide — just like we saw in New York last week.

Same-sex marriage advocates couldn’t stomach another overwhelming and very public defeat. So rather than bring the bill to a vote, with little or no chance for victory and significant risk of being humiliated, they have put the vote off indefinitely.

I take it the NJ Legislature will be deposed on Monday, correct?  Or did they renounce their seats?

But putting it off means that they could bring it back. If voted on, that would have been a decisive defeat - now they can just regroup and bring it back later.

Please DDB…I have not seen a lawsuit filed all week. After all it is the mission of the Episcopal church.
Intercessor

Incoming NJ Governor Chris Christie is a devout RC and said he won’t sign it.

A little more from NJ - the Catholic bishops in NJ launched a strong letter writing effort in all five Roman dioceses, as well as the one Byzantine diocese to senators and representatives against passage of this legislation, which was also aided by several of the major “megachurches” in the state doing the same. I live in the Metuchen Diocese (central NJ), and the bishop here called for TWO days of prayer and fasting.

The witness of the Catholic Church in an increasingly secular age is ... wonderful.

#2 Branford - yes, the could bring it back later. However, the major reason to get it passed now was that lame duck Gov. Corzine could sign it into law before he left office. With Christie entering office next month, same-sex marriage will (legislatively, at least) be DOA for four years.

During a legislative briefing for liberal clergy at the Human Rights Campaign’s clergy call conference earlier this year, I was able to listen in on their strategy. The goal was to “mop up” the north east, then press into the mid-Atlanic, via Delaware. All of that now appears to be on hold (they thought NY and Maine were already “in the bag.”)

It looks like same sex “marriage"has been effectively torpedoed in New Jersey, and besides the efforts of the Catholic bishops and Christie’s intent of not signing the bill, I can’t help thinking that the publishing of the Manhattan Declaration may have had some influence here.

Personally, I don’t care who gets the credit for this important defeat of the pro-gay agenda.  I’m just happy it happened.

And when two quite liberal states in a row block the SSM bandwagon, that appears to create some welcome momentum in the right direction.

David Handy+

Make that three states: don’t forget Maine.

It would be interesting to know Louie Crew’s and +Spong’s take/reaction to this although I swore off following their diatribe long ago.

It would be interesting to know Louie Crew’s and +Spong’s take/reaction to this

They will get right on it as soon as they finish with the facebook page calling upon ++Rowan to “repent” (not my word) for his remarks on the LA election.

No, I am not kidding, do you think I could make that up?? Straight off this morning’s HoBD listserve.
Maybe we should start up our own facebook pages…..

VirtueOnline has posted a letter to the editor from Beckwith of Newark that appeared in the Bergen Evening Record (one of the big NJ papers) the other day. You can almost guess how it reads.

TJ, has the ABC “friended” them??

Oscewicee,
  I disagree with much of what +Rowan has done (and not done) in recent years, but will be praying for his physical safety in the coming days.  Some of what is being said by people who are supposed to be church leaders is striking me as completely over the top.

I’m not really surprised, TJ. Limits aren’t something that seem to be understood in certain quarters - over the top is fine as long as it gets you what you want. Not.

Perhaps there is hope that, some day, the tide will turn inside TEC.

Stranger things have happened.

Thanks, Jeff (#10).

You’re right.  That’s THREE liberal states in a row that have now rebuffed the SSM movement.  And of course, you could add CA, if you go back even further.

It’s not over until it’s really over.  Unfortunately, with a seige mentality being all too common among those of us on the conservative side of the Culture War, we have a regrettable tendency at times to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

And yes, Br_er Rabbit (#17), that also applies to TEC too.

David Handy+

To #6: Here here!!