New Jersey judge rules against church in civil union flap

A New Jersey judge has ruled that a Monmouth County church violated the state’s discrimination laws when it prevented a lesbian couple from holding a civil union ceremony on its property. The legal battle dates back to 2007 when the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association stopped the couple from using its boardwalk pavilion. Administrative Law Judge Solomon Metzger wrote in the ruling that the pavilion area was a public space that advertised itself as a wedding venue without any mention of religious preconditions.