It looks like a quiet, peaceful place. But it’s not.
Two lesbian couples who were denied permission to use a church group’s seaside pavilion for civil-union ceremonies have persuaded New Jersey officials to punish the group through revocation of its tax-exempt status.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association owns the boardwalk pavilion that is a popular spot for weddings.
A spokesman for the gay-activist group Garden State Equality said the state didn’t go far enough, and may ask a court to revoke the tax exemption for all of the boardwalk and land, which the Methodist group has owned since 1870, according to The Associated Press.
Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said it’s the same problem posed by the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) now being considered in Congress. It would grant special protections to homosexuals in the workplace.
