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Same-Sex Couples and the Workplace

Yet beneath the battle over words and their symbolic importance, the Supreme Court ruling makes the terms "marriage" and "civil union" one and the same as far as the rights of the partners go. From a legal standpoint, separating the terms amounts to drawing a semantic distinction without a difference.

PERHAPSTHE MOST surprising thing about the New Jersey Supreme Court's ruling that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as married heterosexual ones is how little surprise the decision has generated. While last months 4-3 ruling quickly became a national issue in congressional campaigns, it has for the most part been taken in stride in the state.

An impact on business will be increased expenditures for health benefits when the partners in same-sex relationships convert from individual to family coverage. The 2000 Onsus found al least 16,000 same-sex households here, and the actual number could be far higher.

All eyes are now on the Legislature, which has six months to fashion a law that will put the high court ruling into practice. But as the Interview on the facing page points out, the ruling already carries the force of law and could prompt same-sex partners to seek the same rights as traditional married couples before the Legislature acts.

The big question for lawmakers is whether to permit gay and lesbian marriages or to settle instead for civil unions. Massachusetts is currently the only state in which same-sex partners can marry. New Jersey will almost certainly choose civil unions since same-sex matrimony remains a highly contentious issue.