A state commission has suggested that New Jersey legislators should allow gay couples to marry.

"This commission finds that the separate categorization established by the Civil Union Act invites and encourages unequal treatment of same-sex couples and their children," the report says.

The commission's finding could lead to a debate over whether the state should be the first to allow gay marriage by law, rather than a court mandate.

"If you look at the membership of that committee, they're all advocates. It's an advocacy group," Pat Brannigan, the executive director of the anti-gay-marriage New Jersey Catholic Conference, said Tuesday. "It doesn't mean that that is the conclusion that society and people in general will come to."

The final report of the state's civil union review commission said the state's two-year-old civil union law fails to protect gay couples.

The governor has indicated he would not comment on the report until it was presented. But in the past, he has said he would sign a bill allowing gay marriage.

Meanwhile, the Iowa Supreme Court is heard arguments Tuesday in a challenge to the state's ban on same sex marriages.

Lawyers involved in the case say it could be more than a year before a ruling is made.

Source: CBN News, The Associated Press