The New Jersey Senate delayed a vote today on "gay marriage" - because the votes for passage weren't there.

This is a positive step. New Jerseyans do not want this, so it's important that it isn't foisted upon us. Of course, there are a few points that need to be addressed, as noted in the piece:

In testimony Monday, gay and lesbian couples said they had been denied access to their partners in hospitals and benefits such as health insurance under civil unions.

The solution here isn't to pervert the institution of marriage, but to address the concerns regarding access to hospital patients and health benefits. I am not gay, nor do I ever intend to be, but I have been denied access to a hospitalized friend on the basis that I was not related or married to him. This particular situation actually required me to have access to my friend, but I was denied for the same reasons these people are being denied the same. People should be able to name ANYONE on their insurance policies as long as they are willing to pay the premium. Patients should be the ones to determine who their visitors get to be when they are hospitalized instead of some hospital policy that narrowly defines such eligibility. This does not have to be an issue for gay people, as all people are affected by these things.

As for being able to marry whomever you want, gay people already have the same rights to marriage as the rest of us. They simply must choose as a spouse a member of the opposite gender just like the rest of us. We all have rules in life that we must live under that we don't like (65 miles per hour? Please.). This is no different.

RWR