*Perilous Times and Decaying Morality

New Jersey legalises gay marraiges*

The legislature of the US state of New Jersey has legalised same-sex
civil unions, giving them the same rights and benefits as mixed-sex
marriages.

The measure does not allow for the unions to be called marriages, however.

The Democratic governor of the state, Jon Corzine, said he would sign
the bill into law.

The bill follows the state's Supreme Court ruling in October that gay
couples were entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Gay rights activists said they were pleased with the progress but would
continue to push for same sex unions to be recognised as marriage.

Setbacks

Currently, only Massachusetts allows same-sex marriages but several
other states have civil union or domestic partnership laws.

The Supreme Court case was brought by seven gay couples, who claimed
that the state's constitution entitled them to marry.

The court passed the issue on to the legislature, concluding that it
"cannot find that the right to same-sex marriage is a fundamental right
under our constitution".

In July, the top court in Washington state upheld a gay marriage ban.

That decision followed a string of setbacks for same-sex marriage
advocates in other parts of the US, including in several states where
votes were held on amending bans on same-sex unions.