U.S. Senate candidates Harold Ford Jr. and Bob Corker on Wednesday said they do not favor a ruling by New Jersey's highest court that opened the door to making the state the second in the nation to allow gay marriage.
The ruling said lawmakers must offer homosexuals either marriage or something like it, such as civil unions.
Congressman Ford said, “I do not support the decision today reached by the New Jersey Supreme Court regarding gay marriage. I oppose gay marriage, and have voted twice in Congress to amend the United States Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage.
"This November there's a referendum on the Tennessee ballot to ban same-sex marriage - I am voting for it.”
Mr. Corker said, “Today’s decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court is yet one more example of activist, liberal judges creating bad law from the bench. I voted on the first day of early voting to prohibit same sex marriage because it protects not just the sanctity of marriage between a man and women, but upholds the views and values of the vast majority of Tennesseans.
"Washington Congressman Harold Ford, however, voted in 2004 against allowing individual states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage licenses issued in other states. Whether it’s taxes, the Patriot Act, partial birth abortion, Iraq or a host of other issues, Congressman Ford’s positions change with the political wind, and this lack of core beliefs on the issues is, to his detriment, becoming more and more apparent to Tennesseans."