(Marriage News Marriage) Opposition Shrinks in NJ!

Marriage equality turns one week old in New Jersey. And before the year is over, we could gain marriage in New Mexico, Illinois, and Hawaii. Plus, there's a new lawsuit in Tennessee and progress in Nevada.

(Marriage News Watch) New Jersey Marriage is a Done Deal!

Just a few more hurdles remain for marriage equality in New Jersey. Organizers in North Carolina have finally found a clerk willing to challenge the state's ban on marriage. Marriage equality is coming to Oregon, even though you can't get married there yet. And a new poll shows surprisingly strong support in Virginia.

(Marriage News Watch) Marriage Delayed in NJ!

Anti-gay politicians are pushing back against recent high-profile victories for equality, but they're just delaying the inevitable. Lawsuits progress in some more conservative states. Plus we have even more good news in state and national surveys.

(POP NEWS) Decade; Safe; Rage; Attack; Jersey; OUT; High Life; Statement; Down Low; Oz Bound; Gold; Bring it; Love Me!

• DECADE: Nate Silver Predicts We'll Have Gay Marriage Before 2020! 

• SAFE: Gay Marriage Backers Should Hope Court Punts! 

• RAGE: Qatar Marriage Rate Falls: Weddings Cost Too Much! 

• ATTACK: Bill O'Reilly Defends Gay Marriage, Says 'Bible Thumping' is Losing! 

• GOING JERSEY: 64 Percent of New Jersey Voters Support Marriage Equality, 60 Percent Support Christie! 

• OUT: 'Today' Show's Jenna Wolfe: I'm Gay and I'm Having a Child! 

• HIGH LIFE: Kentucky Passes Hemp-Growing Bill! 

• STATEMENT: Topless Tunisian Activist Safe After Death Threats! 

(POP NEWS) Hillary's Slam; Butch: Returned; United; Completed; Attack; Brave; Libel; Deadly; Over; AAugh!

• SLAM: Clinton Chokes Up, Gets Angry at Benghazi Hearing!

• BUTCH: Pentagon lifts ban on women in combat!

• RETURNED: Only European King Buried in US Returned to Europe!

• UNITED: Gay Marriage in Works in RI!

• COMPLETE: Chely Wright and Wife Lauren Expecting Identical Twins!

• ATTACK: Boston Law School LGBT Group Vandalized with Vulgar Graffiti!

• BRAVE: NJ High School Senior Comes Out as Gay to His Entire Class, Gets Standing Ovation!

• LIBEL: Armstrong Sued Over Lies in His 'Non-Fiction' Books!

• DEADLY: Smokers Lose 10 Years!

• OVER: Doom for LiLo's Film Career?

• AAUGH: Voice of Charlie Brown Upset by Ex's Boob Job!

(POLITICS Weekly) Jill Kelley; Rice; Jesse, Jr; West; Pot Challenge; Grudge; Paul supports!

• REALITY TV BOUND: Jill Kelley Wanted $80M for Lobbying Gig!

• TARGETED: Rice Swings Back at McCain!

• SHAMELESS: Cop Resigns After Saying He'd Volunteer to Kill Obama! 

• GIVING UP: Jesse Jackson Jr. Resigns!

• TOTALLY OUT: Allen West Finally Concedes!

• Irony Alert: Romney May End Up With 47% of Votes!

• SPOILER: UN Official Urges Feds to Challenge Pot Legalization!

• BETRAYED: GOP Still Holding Grudge Against Christie!

• HINTED: Why a Marco Rubio Quote Has Everyone Talking 2016!

• SEGREGATION: Secede From the Union? Ron Paul Likes It!

STOPPING THE JOKE: NJ Lawmakers Rip Chris Christie for Suggesting Civil Rights of Gay People Should Be Put to a Vote!

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, and Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, are furious about Governor Chris Christie's call Tuesday day for a voter referendum on same-sex marriage.

"We do not put civil rights questions on the ballot," said Weinberg.

Added Sweeney to a reporter who questioned the point of "going through the exercise" of passing marriage equality given the threat of a veto by Christie: "The point of going through a fight for civil rights, are you kidding me? I'm offended by that [question]...If the governor wants to stifle and silence his colleagues that's one thing. But his not going to silence or stifle us...It's offensive for anyone to think 'why bother' if the governor doesn't want to do it. Well, guess what? He's wrong on this one."

APPROVED: Lawsuit by Gay Couples Seeking Marriage in NJ Can Proceed!

A New Jersey judge today ruled that a lawsuit brought by gay and lesbian couples seeking same-sex marriage in the state can proceed, the Star-Ledger reports: If the law creating civil unions does not give same-sex couples the same protections as married heterosexual couples, it has to be examined as to whether it is constitutional, Mercer County Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg said during a hearing in Trenton this afternoon.

But in dismissing three counts of the complaint, Feinberg also said there is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the state Constitution. One count of the suit — a claim that the civil union law does not give them equal protection — remains.

LE CHIC: Why, Oh Why, Would Chanel Name Perfume 'Jersey'?

Simon Doonan wasn’t sure what to think when, while flipping through Vogue, he discovered that Chanel’s new scent is named Jersey.

“A fragrant homage to our Garden State, created by the legendary French fashion house?” Doonan wonders. Not quite: The name is actually an homage to cotton knit jersey fabric. Even so, Doonan found himself “a little concerned that the marketing folks at Chanel may have overestimated our ability to recalibrate our response to the word Jersey.” That changed when he set off to buy a bottle of the perfume and discovered it had sold out, he writes in Slate.

It would appear that, thanks in part to Jersey Shore and the Real Housewives, “Jersey is having an undeniable moment. Jersey is on a roll. Jersey is le dernier cri.” But arguably the best thing about Jersey, the state, is that no one from there would ever actually say “le dernier cri.” “It is virtually impossible to put on airs if you are from New Jersey,” Doonan concludes. Coco Chanel used to “go around saying absurd things … and inveighing haughtily against vulgarity. … If you were born in New Jersey, you need not waste your life tilting against the windmills of vulgarity: You can embrace it and become Snooki, which, upon reflection, seems like a hell of a lot more fun." Click to read Doonan's full column.

DISGUSTED: NJ Governor Chris Christie Calls Teacher Viki Knox's Anti-Gay Facebook Remarks 'Disturbing'!

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was asked about  the furor set off by Union High School teacher Viki Knox and her remarks on Facebook calling homosexuality a "perverted" sin that "breeds like cancer", the Star-Ledger reports: "I think that kind of example is not a positive one at all to be setting for folks who have such an important and influential position in our society," Christie said this morning on 770 WABC Radio. "I'm really concerned about those kinds of statements being made."

Christie said he finds the comments "disturbing."

Hundreds protested yesterday outside a school district board meeting.

Added Christie: "I would like to see an examination of how that teacher conducts herself in the classroom."

BEAR-Iish: Would We Ever Elect the Fat Guy?

Is Chris Christie too fat for the White House? His extra girth could serve him well in an election—to a point. It makes him look like one of the gang, if the gang is the growing number of obese Americans. And his pounds prove he's a guy not listening to the diet nags of the "nanny state," a plus for Tea Party fans. It's also ... different. "People want something different, something out of the ordinary, someone who is willing to stand up and confront problems," political consultant John McLaughlin tells ABC News.

"Being a picture-perfect candidate I don't think is as important anymore." But it's been 100 years since our last hefty prez, William Howard Taft, tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds. We have a monster prejudice against fat people. "Overweight people have much less of a chance of getting a job, they have much less of a chance of keeping a job, they are paid less than those who are thin," says David Birdsell of the School of Public Affairs at New York's Baruch College.

THAWED: Chris Christie Might Run After All?

We might need a 10th podium at the next GOP debate: Conservative site NewsMax says Chris Christie is considering getting into the race and will tell donors within days. The report comes after Bill Kristol at the Weekly Standard floated the idea after watching Thursday night's debate. Kristol followed up later by declaring, "I know Chris Christie is thinking about it," at a CPAC panel in Florida, notes Politico. Alas, an adviser to the New Jersey governor tweeted that the NewsMax story is "not true."

So is this just wishful thinking on the part of Christie fans? Blogger Allahpundit at Hot Air is skeptical about the rumors but won't dismiss them just yet given Rick Perry's lousy debate performance. "Newsmax is a player in right-wing media and might have an inside track here," he writes. Christie's backers, Mitch Daniels included, probably wouldn't be making this public push unless they sensed he was "ever so slightly open to running."