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The Asbury Park City Council Wednesday gave their full support to a  resolution that asks those in the state legislature to overturn Governor Christopher Christie’s veto of same-sex marriage rights.

The marriage equality bill, passed by the state assembly in February of 2012, defines marriage as the “legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship.”  One day after the bill passed, Governor Christie vetoed the legislation.

Deputy Mayor Susan Henderson and Councilwoman Amy Quinn introduced the resolution, urging members of the state senate and assembly to override the governor’s veto.

“Essentially, we’re just looking to offer support to same sex-marriages and to pressure the legislature to pass the marriage equality bill,” Quinn said.

New Jersey United for Marriage, who launched their campaign on the Asbury Park boardwalk in July, reached out to Quinn and Henderson to gain their support in passing the resolution. A similar resolution was passed by the City Rahway recently, Quinn said.

The supreme court struck down provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act which limited the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples in June. The Asbury resolution comes days after a Mercer County Superior Court judge ruled that same-sex couples in New Jersey “must be allowed to marry in order to obtain equal protection of the law under the New Jersey Constitution,” according to court documents.

The resolution states, “The City of Asbury Park hereby urges the New Jersey General Assembly and the State Senate to vote to over-ride Governor Christie’s veto of the Marriage Equality Bill, and afford the same rights and privileges to same-sex couples that are given to other married couples under the law.”

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