In a 3-3 vote, America's New Jersey Supreme Court rejected a same-sex marriage case on 26 July, saying it needs to be dealt with in a lower court first.
Lambda Legal's motion claimed that New Jersey's civil-union law for same-sex couples violates a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling that ordered the state to treat gay and straight couples the same. The civil-union law was the eventual outcome of that ruling.
"Because of the Legislature's inability to act and the Supreme Court's decision today, New Jersey continues in a caste system where an entire people are thrown aside into a profoundly inferior status, spit on, dumped on, utterly degraded, by hospitals and employers who mock the term 'civil union,'" said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality.
Lambda Legal said it was "terribly disappointed" by the decision.
"Our plaintiffs and the New Jersey Legislature's own Civil Union Review Commission documented the rampant discrimination same-sex couples face as a consequence of civil union status, and this ruling now relegates our plaintiffs to second-class citizenship for even longer," said Deputy Legal Director Hayley Gorenberg.
"Separating out one group and relegating the people in it to a lesser status, in this case to civil unions in New Jersey, invites discrimination from all quarters -- the government, businesses, schools, medical providers, individuals."