Early Interest in Gay Marriage in Belleville, Nutley

Gay couples in Belleville and Nutley are eager to start ringing wedding bells.

On Monday, the first day that same sex marriage was legalized in New Jersey, multiple couples headed to municipal offices to make it official.

Nutley Registrar Meredith Blank said that two gay couples had applied for licenses already and that her office had received four inquiries about applying. Belleville Township Manager Kevin Esposito said that a Belleville couple had applied for a license as well.

While officials across the state presided over New Jersey’s first same-sex marriages as the clocks struck midnight early Monday, Belleville and Nutley offices kept their regular hours.

Today, Gov. Chris Christie dropped his appeal of a court ruling to allow gay marriage in the state.

Michael Fitzpatrick, the registrar for nearby Bloomfield, said the change allowing same sex marriages was a simple matter for administrators to comply with the new law. 

“The state changed the form and it’s very simple change,” Fitzpatrick said. “It used to say male and female and now it says applicant A or B. You just have to make sure to use the new form. “