Given an order by the court, the NJ lawmakers have approved a measure to allow Civil Unions, but have reserved the word marriage for traditional marriage.

Ordered by New Jersey’s highest court to offer marriage or its equivalent to gay couples, the Legislature voted Thursday to make New Jersey the third state to allow civil unions.

Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine said he would sign the measure, which would extend to same-sex couples all the rights and privileges available under state law to married people. The bill passed the Assembly 56-19 and the Senate 23-12.

"Love counts," Democratic Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a chief sponsor of the bill, said as the debate opened. "The gender of whom one loves should not matter to the state."

News to you Wilfredo, but love is not the issue in a lot of marriages.  But never mind that for now….

Massachusetts is the only state to allow gay marriage. Vermont and Connecticut have civil unions, and California has domestic partnerships that work similarly. Since 2004 New Jersey has had a more limited version of domestic partnerships.

Among the benefits gay couples would get under New Jersey’s civil unions bill are adoption rights, hospital visitation rights and inheritance rights. Officials could begin granting civil unions 60 days after the governor signs the legislation; Corzine did not say when he would do so.

I would note that all the above could be conferred by other means, but honestly I support civil unions.

But the reservation of the label marriage has caused its own issues:

Gay rights groups have argued that not calling such unions "marriage" creates a different, and inferior, institution. But they welcomed Thursday’s legislation as a step toward gaining the right to marry.

Until the federal laws change to recognize same sex unions, that is a pointless objection.  And until we take the government out of marriage altogether, there will always be this conflict between morals and legal rights, as I have noted here and here.