DOMA Is Dead: Montclair Gay Rights Groups React to Supreme Court Rulings

“DOMA IS DEAD!”

That's what Garden State Equality posted on its Facebook page Wednesday minutes after news broke regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA, or the Defense of Marriage Act.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the law barring the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by the states is unconstitutional. The country’s highest court also struck down Proposition 8, allowing same-sex marriages to resume in California.

Troy Stevenson, executive director of Montclair-based Garden State Equality, released a statement on the organization's website acknowledging the landmark decision, while saying there is still more work to be done for the rights of New Jersey’s gay and lesbian residents.

“The decisions do not extend marriage equality to New Jersey, and New Jersey’s couples in civil unions will continue to be shut out of federal marriage rights even as our brothers and sisters in Connecticut, Delaware, New York and elsewhere have achieved full equality,” Stevenson said.

“The fight must go on, and we will continue to fight it until we win,” he said.

At Montclair State University, the decision was anxiously awaited on campus at the LGBTQ Center.

“Students, faculty and staff on campus joined us here in the LGBTQ Center for the decision and the atmosphere is, in a word, joyous!” Brian Edwards, Coordinator of the LGBTQ Center said. “There have been many happy tears — and we are energized and inspired to continue our work here on campus and throughout the state.”

Edwards joined Garden State Equality in saying today’s rulings represent only a partial victory for same-sex marriage rights.

"Today the Supreme Court affirmed that all loving, committed couples who marry deserve equal legal respect and treatment,” Edwards said.

While 37 states still do not recognize same-sex marriage, and New Jersey continues to deny more than a thousand federal protections of marriage to gay couples, Edwards said, “Our work is not over.”

Johanna Durazzi, an undergraduate at MSU and a volunteer at the LGBTQ Center, put Wednesday’s decisions into historical context. Durazzi pointed out how June 24 marked the 40th anniversary of UpStairs Lounge, the largest massacre in history targeting homosexuals.

“In a country where this massacre was hushed, LGBTQ teenagers have an alarmingly higher rate of suicide than straight teenagers, and homophobia is still in existence,” Durazzi said. “To hear the Supreme Court of the United States has struck down Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, that they are recognizing same-sex marriage the same way they are recognizing opposite-sex marriage, brings tears of joy to me and every other activist and ally of LGBTQ rights.”

She quoted rapper Macklemore whose lyrics in "Same Love” say, “No certificate on paper is gonna solve it all, but it's a damn good place to start."