When the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in October 2006 that gay and lesbian couples must be guaranteed the same rights and benefits as heterosexual couples, the legislature saw only two possibilities: establishing civil unions or legalizing same-sex marriages. They chose the first alternative without considering a possible third option: civil unions for all couples and no marriages performed by the state.

A formal definition of marriage clarifies the logic of this option. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, marriage is “the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife.” Ignoring for the moment the last part of the definition, this means that a marriage is a “legal union” when a man and a woman secure a license—that is, the state’s permission—to participate in a ceremony conducted by an agent of the state (typically an ordained member of the clergy, a judge, or simply any person so empowered) who pronounces them husband and wife. Legally spea...

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