Community Corner

Collingswood Reacts to DOMA Ruling

Linda Murphy of PFLAG Collingswood said she was thrilled at the decision. Mayor James Maley called it a victory for civil liberties.

With the Supreme Court decision to strike down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, gay rights advocates throughout the country are celebrating the verdict that they say has moved same-sex couples closer to equality in the eyes of the law. 

Linda Murphy of the group Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians (PFLAG) Collingswood, which supports the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (GLBTQ) residents of the borough and their friends and families, said she was “absolutely thrilled” at the outcome of the ruling. 

“As a parent of a gay child, I feel people are people,” Murphy said. “They love the same, they work the same; everything is the same.”

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Murphy said it's important for Americans "to understand that equality should be afforded to all." She hopes the ruling will help average people recognize the significance of the gay rights struggle.

“Once you get the backing of your nation, of your government, people will start to realize, ‘Wait a minute, there’s something that I’m missing here.’”

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The Supreme Court decision has helped by lending its cultural weight to the national conversation, she said.

“When you grow up in a society where religious belief has told you that these people are substandard, immoral, it comes with an overwhelming sense of emotion,” Murphy said. “You have society’s feelings that you’ve been raised with that you have to let go.

Even with the backing of the Supreme Court, Murphy says, groups like PFLAG still provide a necessary community service for parents of GLBTQ children.

“To realize that it is okay to be gay, it just takes a weight off and allows you to move forward with your life,” she said.

'I didn't realize how much this meant to me until it happened'

Patch contributor John Elliott, who describes himself as “the child of supportive and loving parents who never made my sexual orientation an issue,” said he found himself surprisingly emotional at the news.

“I didn't realize how much this meant to me until it happened,” Elliott said. 

“Of course, love doesn't need to be legitimized to be real," he said. "With that said, there's a real and sort of magical value in this country I'm from saying, ‘Yes, what's in your heart, and who you choose to share it with, matters.’

“Maybe you don't really have a grasp at what's been kept from you until it's suddenly deemed possible,” Elliott said. 

“It's a good day in America.”

Collingswood GLBTQ blogger Robb C. Sewell described how "tears streamed down my face" as he read the reactions of his friends to the news on social media.

"Today was a monumental day in the lives of so many people who have had to face inequality merely because of their sexuality," Sewell wrote. "I applaud you all, especially those bold enough to stand up and demand an end to injustice."

'A matter of equality under the law' 

Collingswood Mayor James Maley, who’s performed a number of civil unions in New Jersey, said that the verdict was what he expected from a legal perspective. To him, the issue is a civil liberties matter.

“All the time we’ve gone through this in New Jersey, for me it’s always just been a matter of equality under the law,” Maley said. 

“It’s all simply about recognizing that health benefits and taxation and different legal provisions can’t be withheld based on who you marry.”

The most important impact of the decision, Maley said, will be felt among families whose circumstances might have placed them in a precarious legal position prior to the ruling.

He recollected a gay couple whose civil union he’d performed: Each parent had adopted one of the two boys they were raising together, but neither had parental rights over the other’s child from a legal perspective.

“They were going through the civil union because they were worried about what would happen to one of the boys if something happened to one of them,” Maley said.

“To me that makes no sense under the law,” he said. “We deal with police issues with a whole lot of married couples who don’t get it right.”

Communities like Collingswood, which has been called “gay-friendly,” have been dubbed that, Maley said, because they’re better integrated on the whole.

“I don’t think the term gay-friendly means anything,” he said. “It’s just that we’re friendly. The gay community that’s moved in, I just think they appreciate that they’re not treated any differently [here].”

Although the Supreme Court decision protects the federal rights of same-sex couples, Maley said he thinks New Jersey isn’t likely to formally legalize same-sex marriage until the question passes via referendum. 

Gov. Chris Christie has already promised to veto any legislative effort that comes through the state Legislature.

“Referendum’s probably the only path, or wait until there’s another governor,” Maley said. “There’s probably going to be a big push to change that.”

Until then, he quipped, “I think there will be a lot of weekend vacations to Massachusetts.”


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