Court acts in Ocean Grove civil-union dispute

A federal appeals court has ruled that a lower court should address whether a New Jersey religious organization can bar gay couples from civil-union ceremonies on its properties except for a popular pavilion.

The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit agreed that U.S. District Court should not consider the use of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association's boardwalk pavilion, which is the heart of a discrimination case pending before a state administrative law judge.

The appeals court said Wednesday that the federal judge should consider whether the association, which owns all the land in the Monmouth County village, can bar civil-union ceremonies on its property outside the pavilion. The court did not reinstate the association's lawsuit as it pertains to the pavilion, which is not now used for weddings or civil unions.

The case dates from 2007, when two lesbian couples asked to hold a civil-union ceremony at the pavilion, which is church-owned but also used by the public. The Methodist group denied the applications, objecting to civil unions, which offer legal protections to couples but not the title of marriage. When the state investigation began, the Camp Meeting Association sued, claiming violations of free speech and religion. The federal judge in 2007 dismissed the suit on the ground that federal courts should not interfere with state judicial or administrative actions in most cases. - AP