ASBURY PARK, NJ VOTES TO STOP SSM LICENSES, FILE SUIT: From the Associated Press

The Asbury Park City Council voted Wednesday to stop taking applications from gay couples seeking marriage licenses, but to file a lawsuit seeking a court ruling allowing them to resume. The vote was 5-0. The council met behind closed doors Wednesday morning after the state attorney general ordered city officials late Tuesday to stop accepting applications from gay couples or face prosecution.

Councilman John M. Loffredo said the council acted reluctantly. "I've had friends who were beaten for no other reason than they were gay. For us to deny anyone the right to marry is wrong," he said. Council members said they would seek a declaratory judgment affirming that a gay marriage ceremony performed Monday by the city's deputy mayor was legal and that the city could continue issuing marriage licenses to gays.

No timetable was set. In the meantime, officials said, the city would accept no more applications and consider all pending applications denied. The council voted not to expend public funds on the lawsuit, but to seek funding from gay rights organizations it did not specify. In letters to city officials sent Tuesday afternoon, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey threatened prosecution if they did not cease and desist.

The action came at the close of a day in which more than a dozen gay and lesbian couples descended upon City Hall in hopes they could be licensed and married before Harvey made good on promises to invalidate the unions. ...

Gay marriage has so far been rejected by state courts. On Nov. 5, the Law Division of New Jersey Superior Court held that New Jersey's marriage statutes do not permit same-sex marriages. Nothing in the state constitution guarantees same-sex unions as a right and the appropriate forum to change marriage laws is the Legislature, the judge ruled. The ruling is being appealed by gay activists.

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posted by Eve at 5:53 PM VOTE

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