N.J. Gov. Chris Christie proposed Jan. 24 that legalizing same-sex marriage is a question that should be put to voters—and then compared the marriage-equality movement to the civil-rights struggle of the 1950s and '60s, according to NJ.com .
"The fact of the matter is," he said, "I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South."
Reaction has been swift. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, D-Essex, said Christie needed a "history lesson."
"Governor—people were fighting and dying in the streets of the South for a reason," she said. "They were fighting and dying in the streets of the South because the majority refused to grant minorities equal rights by any method. It took legislative action to bring justice to all Americans, just as legislative action is the right way to bring marriage equality to all New Jerseyans."
In a statement, the Rev. Dr. Traci C. West—professor of ethics and African American studies at Drew University Theological School—said, "It defiles the essential moral ideal of equal regard for neighbor when the Governor suggests that some of the most fundamental human rights of Black southerners during that time, as well as those of gay and lesbian New Jersey citizens today should be determined by popular whim.
"In making this analogy, Governor Christie allies himself with inequality and injustice that degrades the moral health and well-being of all of the people of New Jersey regardless of sexual orientation, marital status, or racial/ethnic background."
In a Jan. 26 press conference, Christie defended his statement: "My point is, they're trying to say the only way to deal with a civil-rights issue is through legislation, and my point is that in a state like this, the fact of the matter is their own polling belies that position." A recent poll showed that 52 percent of voters in the state supported marriage equality.
