After grueling hearing, state Senate committee approves New Jersey gay marriage bill 7-6

NewJerseyNewsroom.com/Tom Hester Sr.

After nearly nine hours of testimony and debate the state Senate Judiciary Committee Monday night narrowly approved legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey.

The panel voted 7 to 6 in support of the measure, the Freedom of Religion and Equality in Civil Marriage Act, at 10:07 p.m. and sent to the full Senate for a floor vote on Thursday.

The vote was met with loud applause and cheers by most of the people in the hearing room.

Voting in favor of the proposal were Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer), Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex), Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a co-sponsor of the measure, Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), Sen. Bob Smith, (D-Middlesex), Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson), and Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), the other co-sponsor. Voting in opposition were Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), Sen. John Girgenti (D-Passaic), Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Somerset), Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen), and Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth).
The hearing at the Statehouse Annex in Trenton grew testy at times as committee members and proponents and opponents of the legislation snapped at each other. At one point, Cardinale called a lawyer who was testifying a liar and moments later Gill, an attorney, apologized on behalf of the panel.

Proponents and opponents of the bill on the committee agreed to end public testimony at 9:10 p.m. Testimony began at 2:28 p.m.

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