Resource: Garden State Equality v. Paula Dow

In 2011, Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of Garden State Equality and six same-sex families against the state, arguing that New Jersey’s civil union system, which the legislature created to provide same-sex couples the same benefits as marriage, failed to provide those same benefits and violated New Jersey’s guarantee of equal protection. Previously inLewis v. Harris, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the state violated the equal protection guarantees of the New Jersey constitution by denying same-sex couples the rights, benefits, and privileges that marriage provides to different-sex couples. In June 2013, while the case was pending, the United States Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) inUnited States v. Windsorand the federal government began providing benefits to legally married same-sex couples.