If you watch only one Blue Jersey video on the marriage equality debate, this is the one to watch. This video presents the testimony of three generations of the Galluccio Family. Adolph, the grandfather, has four children. Three of them are straight and one is gay. Adolph's son Michael and Michael's husband Jon have been in a long term relationship and are one of the first set of gay parents in New Jersey permitted to adopt children. Two of their children, Madison and Adam testified along with their parents. The video ends with a powerful statement by Adolph.
Even if you feel you don't have the time to view a 12 minute video, you must view Madison's testimony at 5:35. Look how proud Jon is of his daughter. After seeing this, if you're not a supporter of equal rights, then you just don't have a heart.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora is one of the sponsors of A1, the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption bill. Here is his testimony from yesterday's hearing at the Assembly Judiciary Committee. His remarks completely negate the arguments of the opponents of marriage equality.
The first person giving testimony at yesterday's Assembly Judiciary Committee hearings on marriage equality was Speaker Sheila Oliver. If the results of the last civil rights referendum in New Jersey were allowed to stand, she would not today have the right to vote, let alone run the lower house of the legislature.
Newark West Ward councilman Ron C. Rice makes it official with the release of the video below on his website, issuing a primary challenge to Rep. Donald Payne - first African-American ever elected to Congress from New Jersey - for the seat that's been his since 1989. Payne is 77.
Our Congress is broken. We need new ideas and new leadership to finally tackle age-old problems that have persisted in our nation for far too long. I'm asking for your support. Ron C. Rice (video)
Unlike the northland's other congressional primary contest, Rothman v. Pascrell, this is not the clash of resentful equals and titans that race has apparently gelled into. This is different, the challenge of a young man making waves across generations to an older man in a 22-year incumbency. Donald Payne has a progressive voting record, Ron Rice is a progressive man. That, among other things, will make this an interesting race. Note: Rice's website still lists his as an Exploratory Committee.
Only Blue Jersey has gavel-to-gavel video coverage of yesterday's marriage equality hearings at the Assembly Judiciary Committee. I'll be editing and uploading the more relevant material over the next few days. Some will be frontpaged, some will appear on the sidebar, so be sure to check there, too.
I felt like a witness to history, and someday I'll be able to tell my grandson that Grampa was there when New Jersey worked to end yet another chapter in institutional discrimination.
Below are post-hearing comments from Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, and Garden State Equality's Steven Goldstein.
Gusciora is a gentleman. His comments about freshman Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi are generous and conciliatory. I would have been less kind. Schepisi's first vote in her political career was one to perpetuate discrimination. I'll post Schepisi's remarks later, but suffice it to say that although she appeared torn in her decision, she based it partly on the fact that the e-mails she received were 50-3 in favor of marriage discrimination. She touted the all-to-familiar themes of "separate but equal" arrangements for marriage and the old "some of my best friends are gay" line.
Weinberg and Goldstein were in maximum kvell mode after the vote - deservedly so. Unlike the recent Senate hearings, at yesterday's session everyone who desired to testify was given that opportunity.
Videos are below the fold.
Technical note: One legislator I spoke with had trouble viewing prior videos on his iPad, probably because iPads do not support Flash. I've uploaded these videos in QuickTime format. The files are larger and take more time to upload. If anyone has problems with videos, please send direct email to deciminyan@gmail.com
It's Groundhog Day, again in Trenton. And this year is no different as the news media eagerly awaited whether Governor Chris Christie would see his shadow, as he emerged from the State House.
"This is a very exciting time of year. The Occupy Trenton folks have made it through a cold winter. The State Street lobbyists are in full bloom,"'observed Jeff Tittel, Executive Director or the Sierra Club. "It is a very clear day right now, and we should be able to see the Governor emerging from his meetings very soon."
Then the special announcement came, as Christie appeared on State Street, after an early morning meeting with his cabinet.
"At 8:45am, on February 2nd, 2012, Governor Christie emerged from the gold-domed Capitol building on State Street. And the Governor did see his shadow, and we will have six more weeks of his yelling at public employees."
The governor did get started early this year, by calling Assemblyman Reed Gusciora "numbnuts". "From the governor's early activity, we should have been able to predict the results for the next six weeks," added Tittel.
UPDATE 7:25: Full Assembly will take A-1 up Feb. 16.
UPDATE 5:10pm: After nearly 7 hours of testimony, the Assembly Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 to send A-1 to the full Assembly for consideration. The vote: YES: Johnson, Gusciora, Caputo, Quijano, Barnes. NO: Carroll, Schepisi. Straight party-line vote.
Garden State Equality's Steven Goldstein in a rare moment of calm
If this post looks familiar, it should: 9 days ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard hours of testimony, then passed S-1 to the full Senate by a vote of 8-4.
Today, Assembly Judiciary Committee hears testimony on A-1. At the Senate panel session, though there were far more people who showed up and were prepared to testify for equality, about an equal number of pro's and con's were chosen to address the committee. This morning, Garden State Equality showed up at the crack of dawn to greet supporters, many of whom arrived wearing EQUALITY The American Dream tee-shirts. Gov. Christie's response to the rise in the legislature of this issue was the ill-advised and ignorant statement about the civil rights movement which got him a week of the kind of national coverage people usually don't want.
Crowd waits at Assembly Judiciary, many in EQUALITY t-shirts
Listen LIVE here. Please note: You'll need Windows Media Player, which takes a few moments to download. There's a link for it on the Statehouse media page. Hearings often start late, so keep refreshing the page until it's up.
We'll keep this an Open Thread. So if you're listening or in the audience, please let us know what you're hearing and thinking.
