According to The Associated Press reports, New Jersey's Civil Union Review Commission concluded on Wednesday that the state's two-year-old civil union law does not do enough to give gay couples the same protections as heterosexual married couples.

Expressing a unanimous opinion, in a 79-page report based on an 18-month investigation, the 13 members of the Commission said: "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 conclusion by the Commission may well lead to New Jersey legalizing gay marriage, and possibly setting up a spirited debate over whether the state should be the first to allow gay marriage by passing a law, rather than by court mandate.

Connecticut and Massachusetts are the only states to allow gay marriage, and both were ordered to do so by their highest courts. Earlier this year, California's high court said it was unconstitutional to deny gay couples the right to marry, but the decision was trumped by a constitutional amendment approved by voters last month.

In 2006, New Jersey's state Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to the same civil rights as heterosexual couples, but declined to say whether a same-sex union should be called marriage. In 2007, the court handed the question to the state legislature which created the civil unions' law.

Joseph Roberts, speaker of the Democrat-controlled Assembly, said that the commission's report may now revive legislative efforts to legalize gay marriage. He said: "Same-sex marriage in New Jersey is only a matter of 'when', not 'if'."

Gov. Jon Corzine urged the legislature to seriously review the commission's report, and said, "I will sign marriage equality legislation when it reaches my desk.