NEW YORK, NY December 15, 2006 —Same sex couples in New Jersey now have the same rights as heterosexual married couples. But, lawmakers stopped short of calling it marriage. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

Activists hailed the bill as a turning point in the national gay rights movement. Both houses passed it in lopsided votes yesterday. And lawmakers on both sides of the issue quoted from the bible to support their case.

The push for elevated legal status of same sex unions gained tremendous momentum in October when the State Supreme Court ruled that the existing Domestic Partnership Law was discriminatory, and told lawmakers to remedy it. So the drafters of the new measure inserted the phrase civil unions over the word marriage.

The bill also calls for the creation of a NJ civil Union Commission to review the measures impact. Governor Corzine has committed to signing it into law. But, how much credence other states give New Jersey's Civil Unions remains to be seen. For WNYC, I’m Bob Hennelly.