Jay Lassiter planned all along to go down to the statehouse yesterday and blog for us. But then, something happened in his hometown, that made him stay there, to capture for you today what the people of Cherry Hill did when the fools came to town. Great job, Jay - promoted by Rosi
Today the NJ Senate Judiciary voted on gay marriage equality. And what a long strange trip it's been clearing the first hurdle.
The council also approved legislation tonight to create a commission on gay, lesbian and transgender issues. The 11-member panel will advise the administration on sensitivity toward the gay community on issues like public safety and policing, housing, education and the training of municipal employees.
"This is not about anyone's take on the issue. It's about empowering a community, and bringing folks to the public policy table to propose legislation, to foster understanding, to empower folks in the city of Newark who have historically not been empowered," said Councilman Ronald C. Rice, who drafted the legislation that created the commission.
James Credle, executive director of Newark Pride Alliance, agreed with Rice in a prepared statement.
"Our community has endured countless struggles in the fight for equality in the City of Newark," Credle said. The alliance was founded in 2003 in response to the slaying of city resident Sakia Gunn, a 15-year-old lesbian who had rejected the advances of a man. As the umbrella organization for gay and lesbian groups in Newark, the alliance focuses on safety
Kudos to Ron Rice on his work to get the commission created.
Borrowing the language of the gay marriage debate, Simpson said the group seeks to "protect our definition of what walking on sidewalks is."
Jackie Bello '09, echoing what Simpson called the "separate but equal" nature of Proposition 8, said the group would gladly work with the Grounds and Building Maintenance Department to construct alternative pathways for freshmen to use.
"We don't hate freshmen. Some of our best friends are freshmen," said Shawn Fennell '09, who helped Simpson plan the movement.
Those crazy kids, they're nothing if not creative. The group's facebook page now has 209 members as well. The protest continues Monday and Tuesday.
Today, a bombshell article in The New Republic (TNR) exposed what many of us thought to be true?that Chris Smith's misguided priorities go far deeper than his twenty-two attempts to ban the common, everyday birth control pill.
Thanks to new investigative reporting by TNR's James Kirchick, we now know that Chris Smith is a founding member of the radical right. A reporter at TNR, Kirchick is the author of a highly-regarded article on Ron Paul's ties to segregationists; that article changed the national narrative on Paul earlier this year.
Kirchick's new article reveals that Chris Smith has longstanding ties to religious-right hate groups; that he sat on the board of advisers of a pro-racial segregation organization in the 1980s; that he authored legislation that would bar gays and lesbians from working openly as nurses, doctors, first responders, federal employees or federal contractors; and that he played a role in a vicious disinformation campaign about HIV/AIDS that demonized gays and lesbians as "serial killers." The article also reveals that Smith concealed campaign contributions from at least two hard-line, pro-segregation groups.
The New Republic only scratched surface of Smith's bigotry. Following up on TNR's reporting, this morning, the Zeitz campaign discovered Chris Smith not only worked with segregationists; he voted with them. In 1981, Chris Smith voted to restore non-profit status to segregated private schools [HR 4121, 7/30/81] that were created as a mechanism for white Southerners to avoid the full implications of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
The Zeitz for Congress campaign also obtained a copy of Chris Smith's early college writings. In an article dated 1973, Smith accused gays and lesbians of being in league with "the Anti-Christ":
In Smith's words:
"We can live in harmony with His [God's] spiritual laws and be like the man, as Christ said, who built on an undestructable [sic] rock, or we can live in disharmony with the Anti-Christ; the devil, not the laughable, fiery and character with horns, but the evil one often spoken of by Jesus and he like the man who built his life on sand which eroded and eventually fell. God wants us happy; His laws are for our welfare, our protection, not Sin!"
Chris Smith's bigotry goes beyond his early career. In the 1990s, Smith introduced legislation that would force any company or public entity that receives federal funds to fire openly gay employees. The legislation would deny gays and lesbians the right to work as teachers, doctors, nurses, first responders, federal contractors, or state and federal workers. It might even deny basic rights like student loans to gay college students.
What we've learned today:
Chris Smith is a founding member of the Religious Right, having sat on the advisory board of the Christian Voice. The Christian Voice strongly supported racially segregated private schools in the South and worked closely with Jerry Falwell.
Chris Smith voted to support segregation by allowing all-white private schools (which were created after forced-desegregation) to remain segregated.
Chris Smith failed to abide by FEC rules and report contributions from openly racist, misogynistic, and homophobic groups on the radical right.
Chris Smith introduced legislation in the 1990s to mandate that the government (or any recipients of federal funds, like local school district, fire departments, police departments and federal contractors) fire any openly gay employees. Openly gay individuals would have been barred from any receipt of federal funds such as school loans, food stamps or unemployment benefits.
"Chris Smith is an extremist," said Steven D'Amico, Zeitz for Congress campaign manager. "There is nothing moderate about racial segregation. There is nothing moderate about denying jobs and education to millions of gay Americans. There is nothing moderate about taking away the right to use common, everyday birth control. These are unacceptable positions that are out of step with basic human decency."
I'm asking you to do a couple of things here. Please make a contribution. Also, if you're in or near the district, please contact ian_at_joshzeitz_dot_com to volunteer.
We can win this race, and we need to do it in order to show New Jersey and the country that this kind of extremism is immoral and unacceptable, and voters will hold such extremists accountable.
Republicans claim that their party is a Big Tent - well, unless, of course, if you're gay, black, hispanic, poor, blue-collar, etc. Ok ok, enough of the snark there. In Sunday's Record, Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan argues why Republicans should "raise the tent" for gays.
Those attending Friday's funeral mass for David Bentz, the Army soldier from Franklin Township killed last week in Iraq, will be greeted by protesters from a Kansas-based group opposed to homosexuality. The Westboro Baptist Church has taken to protesting at funerals for servicemen -- not because of their sexual orientation -- but on the belief the country has incurred the wrath of God by accepting homosexuality.
Update: The room is full with some people having to stand. There's about 250-300 people attending the rally.
Update 2: More people are still arriving. The unions say "we stand up for the people who have always stood up for us."
Update 3: In attendance: HPAE, Local 164, laborers local 592, CWA, Firefighters union district 37, Garden State Equality, Phyllis Salloway-Kaye of Citizen Action
Update 4: Also attending: Amy Goldsmith of the NJ Environmental Federation, SEIU, UFCW, Mike Herson of the Sierra Club.
Join us Wednesday, January 17 at 4 pm in Paramus at a HUGE RALLY of union leaders and progressive activists to support Senator Loretta Weinberg, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle.
Wednesday, January 17 at 4 pm
IBEW 164 Union Hall Auditorium
205 Robin Road
Paramus, NJ 07652
4 pm: Loretta, Gordon and Valerie hold a pre-rally meeting with progressive activists -- they want to talk to us before the hoopla. A photographer will be present to take photos of each of us with the legislators.
5 pm: The rally itself. A who's who of labor and progressive activists across the state -- it's going to be amazing.
Here's why the event has historic significance: There aren't enough times when we progressives join with our incredible friends from the labor movement in political action. New Jersey, as you know, is per capita the most unionized state in America. And thanks in huge part to Blue Jersey, its bloggers and their other respective organizations, New Jersey right now is the hottest place for progressive activism in America.
Imagine all we can achieve when progressives and labor unite!
This event is also when we progressives, almost all of us staunch Democrats, stand up to a county party machine when it strays from the values of progressive, clean and open government that we cherish by not expressing sufficient support for incredible legislators like Loretta, Gordon and Valerie - reformers and champions of justice everyday in every way.
What an incredible signal we're sending with this event, one that will reverberate politically statewide.
So join us
Wednesday, January 17 at 4 pm
IBEW 164 Union Hall Auditorium
205 Robin Road
Paramus, NJ 07652
Please don't hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions. Best, Steven, cell (917) 449-8918, Goldstein@GardenStateEquality.org.
From time to time, we at GSE get e-mails like the one below, which came in yesterday. Of course the best response may be none. But if you wanted to respond, how would you do it?
Hi:
I am a Christian and I would like you all to consider changing your lifestyles and quit homosexuality.
You know, God did not give us the Bible to stash away in a drawer or in the attic to be forgotten. The Bible is our instruction manual for our everyday life. Please do not choose to continue ignoring the Bible. Every word is true, because God is truth and he says....."the truth shall set you free." Don't let the enemy keep on lying to you and all your members by telling you homosexuality is okay.
He made Adam and Eve and through them they were to multiply throughout the ages. Have you ever wondered what the world population would be if God had made Joyce and Candace? Or, Tom and Michael? It's obvious, the world population would be two very lonely women, or two very lonely men.
God loves all homosexuals and agonizes every day because they will not listen to Him. So, the time is now to turn and follow Jesus, because when we die......it's too late.
As we enter 2007, New Jersey's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community is celebrating one of the great periods of civil rights progress in American history -- even as many other states struggle to fend off LGBTI civil-rights rollbacks. Since 2004, 14 laws advancing the rights of the LGBTI community have been enacted at the statewide and county levels: A statewide domestic partnership law, a subsequent expansion of the law, still further expansions in 10 counties, a statewide transgender equality law, and most recently a statewide civil rights law that gives New Jersey the second strongest protections for same-sex couples in the nation.
No one would dispute that New Jersey is uniquely fertile ground for civil rights progress, no matter the efforts of our state's progressive organizations. By the same token, these organizations have been savvy enough to take advantage of the climate, making our march toward equality move that much faster. Blue Jersey, Lambda Legal, NJLGC, the ACLU, GRAANJ, New Jersey for Democracy, BlueWave, New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and the GLBT Rights Committee of the New Jersey Bar Association, all partnering with Garden State Equality and other organizations, have led the historic march.
That said, when the New Jersey Supreme Court handed down its decision on October 25th, many of us privately acknowledged how difficult it would be to win marriage equality within 180 days. Legislative leaders didn't want history to happen so soon, unfortunately. But as the weeks unfolded, it became clear we could win marriage equality legislation within the next two years or less. Every legislative leader in the Assembly and state Senate wound up endorsing marriage for same-sex couples. At the committee hearings and during floor debate on civil unions, key leaders said marriage equality was a matter of when, not if. Support for marriage equality legislation quadrupled within a few weeks, an unheard-of pace.
Activists, including the Blue Jersey community and the aforementioned civil rights organizations, helped to make all that possible. Because activists fought the good fight -- no, the great fight -- during the immediate post-Supreme Court period, the timing for marriage equality in New Jersey has hastened dramatically. Two years or less from now is no pipe dream.
As we activists fought for marriage equality after the Supreme Court decision, we tried to be both visionary and practical. On the one hand, we shouted from the rooftops that civil unions are separate, unequal, discriminatory and do not work in the real world. We'll continue to shout that -- it's simply true. On the other hand, behind the scenes we entered negotiations with legislative leaders and their staff to make the civil unions bill as strong as possible. The timing for negotiations was tricky: By talking with power brokers about how to improve the civil unions bill, we didn't want to send a signal that civil unions were acceptable. But once Thanksgiving passed and civil unions hearings were on the schedule, we initiated negotiations with legislators and dove into them with vigor. This, even as we continued our relentless public campaign that generated more than 300,000 e-mails, postcards and phone calls to legislators exhorting them to pass real marriage equality.
Every time we turned up the heat for marriage equality, though we knew the odds were against us, we found our hand in civil unions negotiations was strengthened. Far from pushing power brokers away from the figurative bargaining table, the grassroots campaign made them more receptive.
For starters, legislators accepted Garden State Equality's proposal to include in the law a government commission that will examine how civil unions in New Jersey fall short of marriage equality in providing equality to same-sex couples. It's unprecedented in the national marriage-equality movement: We got built into the law a mechanism that codifies a continuation of our movement for marriage equality. Even better, the commission will issue public reports every six months, far more often than government commissions usually report.
All told, we proposed 20 changes and additions to the civil unions bill. Nineteen of the 20 changes and additions made it into law, including the all-important elimination of language that directly or indirectly defines or describes marriage as between a man and a woman. New Jersey thus became the first state in the country to enact a civil unions law, unlike Vermont and Connecticut, without any quid pro quo ban on marriage equality. That's another boon to our campaign for achieving marriage equality in the next two years or less.
Thus the civil unions bill went from putrid, as we publicly described the early version, to evolving into the best civil unions law in the country, even including an engine for achieving marriage equality soon. We were practical enough, once we got the best bill possible, to nuance our public position. By the time of the legislative committee hearings, we did not oppose the civil unions bill outright, despite being pressed to do so from several quarters. During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, pro-marriage-equality Senator Bob Martin publicly asked me whether he should vote against the civil unions bill. I responded that the civil unions bill was a significant step forward.
So what was the 20th change to the bill, the one we didn't get? We wanted same-sex couples to be called spouses throughout the bill. We didn't quite achieve that. But we changed the language from the cold, impersonal "parties to a civil union" to "civil union couples." And here's a little secret: "Spouses" is sprinkled in the bill, too.
From our vantage point, activism is about holding a carrot in one hand, and a stick in the other. About generating passion in the streets and about being practical in the lobbies. We don't believe it is mutually exclusive to take a hard-line strategy to engage thousands of New Jerseyans to pressure legislators for 100 percent equality, on the one hand, while negotiating to get the best possible legislation we can, on the other hand. All are the tools of an activist. As some of our distinguished colleagues in activism exhorted us to be practical, that's exactly what was happening behind the scenes.
Practicality, of course, means not merely making demands of our public officials, but also giving back to them. In both the 2005 and 2006 elections, Garden State Equality produced a comprehensive get-out-the-vote operation for progressive candidates across the state, almost all Democrats. Our volunteers staffed 20 campaign field offices in every part of New Jersey. We have also contributed thousands of dollars to pro-equality candidates, again almost all Democrats, including through two Garden State Equality statewide galas for the express purpose of supporting our legislative friends. We know the importance of saying thank you beyond just saying it.
To be sure, people and organizations have different strategies, all of which have met with great success. Not only did legions of activists work successfully together to produce the country's strongest civil unions law, and not only is New Jersey is the best position in America to achieve marriage equality through legislation, but other strategies have worked equallly well. The relentless crusades for Laurel Hester and "Cher," in which Blue Jersey was our cherished coleader, respectively led to 10 counties strengthening their LGBTI rights laws and to the legislature passing a transgender equality law. In the weeks before "Cher-nobyl," legislators had told us the transgender bill was dead in the water for the time being.
In December, the bill passed the legislature by 69 to 5 in the Senate and 32 to 3 in the Assembly, the largest margins in American history by which a state legislature has passed a transgender equality law. As Cher herself would sing, Believe.
Throughout civil rights history, for that matter, activists have won civil rights progress when they had the chutzpah to ask for more, not less. New Jersey did not enact a domestic partnership law in 2004 because activists sought merely domestic partnership. It was because activists insisted on marriage equality.
New Jersey did not expand the domestic partnership law in January 2006 because activists sought merely that expansion. It was because activists insisted on marriage equality.
New Jersey did not enact a civil unions law in December 2006 because activists sought merely a civil unions law. It was because activists insisted on marriage equality.
And New Jersey did not enact the strongest possible civil unions law, one just short of marriage, because activists sought merely the strongest possible civil unions law. It was because activists insisted on marriage equality.
Now watch New Jersey's progressive activists, LGBTI and straight alike, win marriage equality within the next two years or less.
As Franklin Delano Roosevelt told Winston Churchill, it's fun to be in the same decade with you.
I almost never listen to New Jersey 101.5, but when a friend called and told me that Dennis Malloy of "Dennis and Judy" was discussing Corzine's signing of the transgender civil rights bill into law yesterday, I couldn't resist tuning in.
After about five minutes of hearing this right-wing boob expound on how "Comrade Corzine" was preventing business owners from freely discriminating against anyone they don't like, being the loudmouth transgender radio host I am, I just couldn't stand it anymore and picked up the phone...
Join Garden State Equality on Thursday, December 14th in Trenton for the celebration of the final passage of New Jersey's transgender equality bill and also for the celebration of an extraordinary political dynamic:
As the civil unions bill passes both houses on Thursday, key legislators have publicly acknowledged that the new law is merely an interim step toward 100% marriage equality -- and that they expect the legislature to revisit the issue. This, as support for marriage equality legislation has grown from six to 20 legislators since the October 25th Supreme Court decision.
We have the momentum! Thursday begins the next phase of Garden State Equality's marriage equality campaign.
The Assembly session begins at 1:00 pm Thursday. The vote on civil unions will come anytime thereafter. The Assembly will also pass the transgender equality bill -- the Senate passed the bill last week. We'll all be sitting at the gallery in the Assembly.
The Senate session begins at 2:00 pm Thursday. The vote on civil unions will come anytime thereafter. We'll all be sitting at the gallery in the Senate.
When all the votes are done, join Garden State Equality and the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey at the Trenton Marriott, a block from the State House, to celebrate passage of the transgender equality law -- and how much closer we are to 100% marriage equality in New Jersey.
Contact: Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality, cell (917) 449-8918
It's Wednesday, December 6th, day two of Garden State Equality's "10 Days of Nonstop Activism for Marriage Equality." We ask you take three actions today.
FIRST, THE BIG MOMENT HAS ARRIVED -- HEARINGS IN TRENTON ARE TOMORROW (THURSDAY) MORNING. CAN YOU MAKE PLANS TODAY TO JOIN US IN TRENTON AT 9:00 AM TOMORROW (THURSDAY) AT GSE'S TRENTON OFFICE, 110 WEST STATE STREET, ACROSS FROM THE STATE HOUSE?
The Assembly Judiciary Committee will hold hearings Thursday morning, December 7th in Trenton on the discriminatory and mistake-riddled civil unions bill that goes out of its way not to acknowledge gay couples as spouses. The Assembly gave us this impossibly short notice to minimize the presence of the pro-marriage-equality community.
We'll meet Thursday at 9:00 am in front of Garden State Equality's Trenton office at 11o West State Street. We'll serve coffee and continental breakfast. We'll brief you on site.
We ask you to take off Thursday morning, if at all possible, to attend and express your opposition to the discriminatory civil unions bill. We also ask you to consider testifying. We have a particular need for testimony from clergy, same-sex couples and parents/families. You do not need to RSVP to attend or testify -- just show up.
SECOND, TODAY WEDNESDAY, PLEASE CALL THE FOLLOWING "BIG THREE" OFFICIALS TO TELL THEM: "Support marriage equality. Oppose civil unions because they don't work in the real world and they discriminate against gay families." TODAY PLEASE CALL:
GOVERNOR JON CORZINE at 609-292-6000
SENATE PRESIDENT DICK CODEY at 973-731-6770
ASSEMBLY SPEAKER JOE ROBERTS at 856-742-7600
THIRD, take a moment to watch the magnificent new commercial for marriage equality produced by our friends at BlueJersey.com, the state's leading progressive blog. This is the first commercial in America to show the difference between marriage equality and discriminatory civil unions. Click on http://www.bluejerse...
Thank you for all you do. Best, Steven (917) 449-8918
Garden State Equality was the first statewide organization to endorse Senator Menendez, who has a 91 percent lifetime rating from the Human Rights Campaign. His election is crucial for a change in control of the United States Senate. Senator Menendez's opponent, Tom Kean Jr. (R), is among the most anti-LGBTI statewide candidates to be nominated by either party in the history of New Jersey politics. Kean Jr. is nothing like his father. Kean Jr. favors a state constitutional ban on marriage equality for gay couples, which would permanently end our campaign for marriage equality in New Jersey. In 2004, Kean Jr. also voted "no" on the state domestic partnership law that provides gay couples less than one percent of what straight couples have.
For the United States House of Representatives:
Linda Stender (D) in the 7th Congressional District, covering parts of Union, Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon counties. To check whether you live in Linda's district, visit http://www.lindasten...
This race, among the one dozen closest U.S. House races across America, could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Linda Stender, currently an Assemblywoman, is as progressive, honest and effective a public servant as exists in New Jersey today. She's a strong supporter of the LGBTI community. Her opponent, incumbent Mike Ferguson (R), is viciously anti-LGBTI and joyfully pro-war. He is also obsessed with banning marriage equality in the United States Constitution.
Carol Gay (D) in the 4th Congressional District, covering parts of Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington Counties. To check whether you live in Carol's district, visit http://www.carolgayf...
Carol Gay is one of New Jersey's most unshakable supporters of marriage equality. Active in the labor movement, she's a member of the Solidarity Singers of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council that performs at Garden State Equality events. She's running against incumbent Chris Smith (R), a nationally known warrior against every LGBTI civil right imaginable. Smith is favored in this district but your vote for Carol Gay is a must to keep Smith's self-perceived mandate at a minimum.
Garden State Equality endorses the following incumbent U.S. House members who face no serious competition, but who deserve your vote for being among our country's strongest supporters of civil rights for all: Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1st Congressional District); Rep. Frank Pallone (D- 6th Congressional District); Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th Congressional District); Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9th Congressional District); Donald Payne (D-10th Congressional District), and Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Congressional District).
Garden State Equality endorses the following candidates for local office, all more pro-LGBTI, more progressive and more qualified than their opposite party opponents. We note which candidates are openly lesbian or gay because New Jersey ranks near the very bottom of all U.S. states in the number of openly LGBTI people who hold public office.
- Donna Schiavone (R) for borough council in Hillsdale in Bergen County. Openly LGBTI.
- Charles Eader (D) for township committee in Bedminster in Somerset County. Openly LGBTI.
- John Stoltz (D) for township committee in Colts Neck in Monmouth County. Openly LGBTI.
- Tim Eustace (D) for borough council in Maywood in Bergen County. Openly LGBTI.
- Michael Peterson (D) for borough council in Roselle Park in Union County. Openly LGBTI.
- Dana Wefer (D) for Morris County Freeholder.
You may take print this information and take it to the polls with you. This Blue Jerse blog entry is from the Garden State Equality continuing political committee, an independent entity under state election law.
Garden State Equality is pleased to announce that Blue Jersey is the winner of our 2007 Lieutenant Laurel Hester Prize for Citizen Courage. Blue Jersey will receive the Hester Prize at Garden State Equality's Legends Dinner on Sunday, March 4, 2007 at 5:00 pm at the Maplewood Country Club.
The vote of the Garden State Equality board was unanimous. This is the first time the Hester Prize will go to an organization rather than to an individual.
Previous winners of the Lieutenant Laurel Hester Prize for Citizen Courage have included:
In 2005, Lt. Hester herself.
In 2006, Stacie Andree, Lt. Hester's partner; and Dane Wells, the retired Ocean County police officer who joined with Garden State Equality to win domestic-partner benefits for Lt. Hester.
In 2006, Lily McBeth, the teacher who successfully fought the efforts of parents to ban her from the classroom because she is transgender.
Garden State Equality is awarding the Hester Prize to Blue Jersey for being a national model in how a blog can become an unstoppable engine to move society toward equality for all.
No other blog in America has been as passionate a voice for individuals who have faced heartbreaking discrimination. Blue Jersey played a leading role in fighting on behalf of Lt. Hester, Lily McBeth and most recently, "Cher," partnering with Garden State Equality to make their stories known in every home in New Jersey. In each case, justice ultimately prevailed.
No other blog in America has been a stronger champion for marriage equality. Blue Jersey has been relentless in signalizing to public officials that marriage equality is vitally important not only to the LGBTI community, but also to the predominantly straight progressive community.
Garden State Equality will shortly announce more details about the Legends Dinner, at which we will present the Hester Prize to Blue Jersey. Again, the Legends Dinner is on Sunday, March 4, 2007 at 5:00 pm at the Maplewood Country Club.
All of us at Garden State Equality extend our congratulations and heartfelt appreciation to everyone in the Blue Jersey community.
The New Jersey Supreme Court will be handing down its marriage-equality decision after Chief Justice Poritz's last day on the Court -- her last day being tomorrow, Wednesday, October 25th.
Conventional wisdom has been that the decision would have to come down by the last day before the Chief Justice's retirement. But according to the Court's spokespeople, and as some news organizations have now reported, the Court can hand down rulings after a particular justice's last day without nullifying her participation or vote.
In fact, the Court even allows a retired justice to continue participating in deliberations in a particular case, so long as she had sat on the bench in that case, after her retirement.
So this much is clear:
1. There is no deadline for the Court to hand down its decision.
2. There is no correlation between the time it takes a Court to deliver a decision and the outcome of a decision. Our brothers and sisters in Massachusetts went through a similar situation with their marriage equality case. Throughout 2003, the year their case was argued before the court, conventional wisdom had been that the decision would come down by a certain date. The decision came down afterward.
3. It is far from unprecedented for the New Jersey Supreme Court to hand down rulings this long after oral arguments. In fact, the Court is announcing today, Tuesday, October 24th, a decision in a death-penalty case in which the Court heard oral arguments on November 29, 2005.
The NJ Industrial Union Council is hosting a reception this evening for Carol Gay, Democratic candidate for the 4th CD running against Chris Smith, an extreme right-winger. Governor Corzine will be there. It's 6 to 8 pm at the United Auto Workers hall, 56 Vineyard Road in Edison. The Solidarity Singers will be on the program, too, featuring my latest parody, "If He Only Had a...Whatever." All welcome!
The day commemorates October 11, 1987, when 500,000 people marched on Washington, USA, for gay and lesbian equality. National Coming Out Day events are aimed at raising awareness of the LGBT community among the general populace in an effort to give a familiar face to the LGBT rights movement.
When those "familiar faces" are our elected officials, it becomes that much more powerful and inspirational - look no further than the incredible Mayor Gina Genovese of Long Hill Township, and the handful of equally out and proud councilmembers scattered across the state that Garden State Equality honored earlier this year. Your courage means so much more to the gay community than most people realize!
But, it's about time we moved higher up the political food chain. It's one thing to have friends at the table advocating on your behalf, but there's no substitute for having an actual seat at the table. Unlike Idaho, Utah, North Carolina, Alabama and many other "red" states, New Jersey is without an openly gay member of the legislature.
Oh sure, we have now, and have had in the past multiple closeted gay members of the legislature (links intentionally omitted), and kinda-sorta-everyone-knows gay politicians (but I still can't link to them!), not to mention the governor's mansion (link unnecessary). But, more than one has seen their advancement - or even their career - end prematurely, not because of their gayness, but because they lived in the closet.
Try as you like - but you can't effectively advocate for equality if you don't treat your own life and love as equal to others. So, on National Coming Out Day, to New Jersey's closeted gay politicians (you - and a whole bunch of other people - know who you are), I say: now's your chance! Why not come out today?
This is enough to make every citizen of New Jersey recoil in horror: Anti-gay protesters from Kansas are in Morris County, New Jersey today, Wednesday, October 11th, to protest at the funeral of a soldier who died in Iraq on October 1st. The protesters say soldiers are dying because America is too tolerant of gays, believe it or not. The solidier whose funeral they're protesting wasn't even gay.
To read the article in today's Morristown Daily Record, visit www.dailyrecord.com and you'll see the article on the home page.
Reaction from Garden State Equality:
"Today's protest is one of the sickest, most subhuman acts of hatred New Jersey has ever seen," said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality. "These vile protesters need to go back to Kansas -- here in New Jersey, every Dorothy and every other citizen, whether straight like this soldier, or LGBT like 875,000 citizens of our state, demands equality and dignity. New Jersey is the state that doesn't hate. As human beings, these cretins from Kansas don't even rate."
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Join us Wednesday, January 17 at 4 pm in Paramus at a HUGE RALLY of union leaders and progressive activists to support Senator Loretta Weinberg, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle.
