LGBTI volunteer program for the 2006 Congressional elections -- volunteer today!

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Sun Oct 01, 2006 at 03:26:55 PM EDT

This volunteer program is open to everyone who believes in equality, whether you are LGBTI or straight.

The offices are in Jersey City, Montclair, Scotch Plains, West Trenton, Ocean Grove and Cherry Hill, so you're likely to find a location just minutes away.

But first, some background:

Two years ago, the 2004 elections marked a painful time for the LGBTI community across America.  In one of the most hateful campaigns ever, Karl Rove and the national right-wing demonized LGBTI families state by state by state.  The hatemongers didn't merely go after our freedom to marry.  They campaigned to abolish laws that give LGBTI Americans any rights, from domestic-partnership laws, to the ability to adopt children, to our inclusion in even the most elementary anti-discrimination laws. 

The 2006 elections are a whole different story.  We now have the best chance in many years to win back both houses of the U.S. Congress -- and it all comes down to New Jersey.

If U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a steadfast champion of equality, doesn't win in November, we don't have a prayer to take back the U.S. Senate.  What an irony that would be:  Pro-LGBTI candidates for Congress are surging everywhere in America, even in the reddest of "red" states -- yet it could be New Jersey, the most progressive state in America, that keeps the U.S. Senate in the hands of those who want to strip the LGBTI community of our most fundamental human dignity.

Indeed, the stakes for us in New Jersey are higher than anywhere else in America:  When we win marriage equality -- whether in the next four weeks through a court victory, or in the next four years through our legislature's passing a statute -- our victory will completely erased if the hatemongers keep control of the U.S. Congress and finally succeed in banning marriage equality in the U.S. Constitution.

So friends, this election involves way more than choosing between two candidates -- though on its own merits, the choice is clear between pro-LGBTI U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and his Republican challenger Tom Kean Jr., who voted against the domestic-partnership law in 2004.  This election is about the bigger picture nationallly and about advancing our civil rights in New Jersey.

Garden State Equality and New Jersey Stonewall Democrats therefore ask you to volunteer in one of the six offices below, as soon as possible and as often as possible between now and Election Day, November 7th. 

So we can keep track of who our volunteers are --and can remind our leaders of the political power of the LGBTI community and our progressive allies -- we ask everyone interested in volunteering to contact Jeff Gardner, Vice Chair of Garden State Equality and director of our Election 2006 field operation, at jeffpgardner@gmail.com or cell (973) 951-7081. 

These campaign offices are open every day, every weeknight and even on weekends -- and Jeff will be able to check for you in advance.  Again, contacting Jeff, allowing us to keep track of our volunteers, is crucial.  The next time we're in a dogged fight for our civil rights, we want to say to public officials and party leaders, "We stood up for you with these great volunteers, so now stand up for us."

Thanks, everyone, from all of us at Garden State Equality and our friends at New Jersey Stonewall Democrats -- the campaign offices are below.  Best, Steven Goldstein, chair, Garden State Equality

Jersey City
Hudson County Democratic Organization
74 Oakland Avenue 

Montclair
Smith & Mullin law firm 
240 Claremont Avenue

Scotch Plains
Linda Stender for Congress campaign headquarters 
211 Park Avenue

West Trenton
Communications Workers of America Local 1034
1 Lower Ferry Road

Ocean Grove
Century 21 Coastal Realtors
67 Main Street

Cherry Hill
USBW Local 152
5 Executive Plaza

To volunteer, contact Jeff Gardner, Vice Chair of Garden State Equality and director of our Election 2006 field operation, at jeffpgardner@gmail.com or cell (973) 951-7081. 

This posting is by the Garden State Equality political organization, not the Garden State Equality Educational Fund.
 

What if our side loses the marriage-equality lawsuit? We fight for a marriage-equality statute.

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 06:06:55 PM EDT

That's something for which Garden State Equality and New Jersey's LGBTI community would never settle.  If our side loses the case, we would pivot immediately to fighting for a marriage-equality statute.

Here's why...

A huge progressive test in 2007: Reelecting Sen. Loretta Weinberg

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Thu Sep 28, 2006 at 12:58:41 PM EDT

Congress all but says DROP DEAD to New Jerseyans with HIV and AIDS. Here you can e-mail Congress.

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Tue Sep 26, 2006 at 12:35:23 PM EDT

Congress is about to reauthorize the Ryan White Act -- the federal funding law for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment -- by forcing mind-boggling funding cuts upon states like New Jersey, New York and California.  But especially upon New Jersey, which ranks FIFTH IN THE NATION IN REPORTED CASES OF HIV AND AIDS.

And which states will receive significantly increased funding under the planned reauthorization of Ryan White?  States like Alabama and North Carolina.  States with a tiny fraction of the HIV and AIDS caseload that New Jersey has.

Let's be real:  The Republican-controlled Congress is showing favoritism to Republican states.  The result will be the utter decimation of AIDS prevention and treatment programs in New Jersey, including impeding the heroic work of New Jersey's extraordinary statewide HIV and AIDS organization, Hyacinth. 

Hyacinth, which you can visit at www.Hyacinth.org to learn more and even make an online donation in their website's "What Can I Do?" section, may be the nation's most effective HIV and AIDS service organization.  This, even though Hyacinth's government funding is painfully insufficient as it is.  What our friends at Hyacinth achieve with so few resources is one of the great social-service successes of our time.

Already down to the funding bone, Hyacinth, as well as the other AIDS service providers in New Jersey, have not an ounce of room to absorb the cuts proposed in Congress.

Make no mistake:  THERE WILL BE NEW JERSEYANS WITH HIV AND AIDS WHO WILL DIE BECAUSE OF CONGRESS' MASSIVE FUNDING CUTS TO NEW JERSEY.  That is no exaggeration. 

The most grotesque part of all? 

CONGRESS' REAUTHORIZATION PLAN WILL WREAK THE MOST HAVOC -- UNBEARABLE HAVOC -- ON WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR WITH HIV AND AIDS IN NEW JERSEY. 

Among all U.S. states, New Jersey ranks #1 in the percentage of people with HIV or AIDS who are women.

56 percent of all New Jerseyans with HIV or AIDS are African-American.  One in every 63 African-Americans in New Jersey is living with HIV or AIDS, compared to one in every 775 whites in New Jersey.  AIDS is the fifth biggest killer of African-Americans in New Jersey.  AIDS is the fifth biggest killer of Latinos and Latinas in New Jersey. 

So how dare we not tell it like it is?  Congress' new Ryan White reauthorization plan has bone-chilling implications of sexism and racism.  It is vile.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?

The wonderful Congressman Frank Pallone (D-Monmouth and Ocean Counties), one of America's greatest champions of equality and of the rights of people with HIV and AIDS, has introduced a bill to reauthorize the Ryan White Act for one year at its long-existing funding levels -- meaning the horrible cuts to New Jersey's  HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment programs would be avoided for now.

We at Garden State Equality now ask you to go to http://eqfed.org/cam... to e-mail our prewritten letter to your member of the U.S. House and to New Jersey's two U.S. Senators.  The letter asks them to vote for Congressman Pallone's bill that is fair to New Jersey -- and to vote no on the evil "Barton Bill" that would decimate HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment funding for New Jersey.

Please e-mail our letter now, not later today.  We are racing against time:  Congressman Pallone's bill will come up for a vote likely within the next 48 hours, and both houses of Congress must reauthorize the Ryan White Act by September 30th.  THIS IS OF URGENT, GRAVE CONSEQUENCE TO THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS NEW JERSEY WHOSE LIVES ARE AT STAKE.

Again, please go to http://eqfed.org/cam... to e-mail letters to your members of Congress.  This may be one of the most important political actions you ever take.  It could save the lives of thousands.

With deep gratitude,
Steven Goldstein
on behalf of all of us at Garden State Equality
Goldstein@GardenStateEquality.org
Cell (917) 449-8918
www.GardenStateEquality.org

NJ Democratic State Committee repeats insensitivity to the LGBTI community

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Sun Sep 10, 2006 at 01:12:42 AM EDT

Each Friday at the convention, different constituencies have different Caucus meetings.  This year, three organizations, Garden State Equality, New Jersey Stonewell Democrats and the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey, produced the LGBTI Caucus.  We decided to do something different -- to present an entertainer at the end of our Caucus meeting.  We had an open bar and hired a Cher impersonator.  Last year's LGBTI Caucus attracted 8 people.  This year's attracted more than 100. 

You, our progressive friends, would have attended without the bells and whistles and we love you for it.  But many others in the room came who wouldn't have otherwise; they said so.  And we got a chance to talk to them about our issues.  In a Caucus that began at 6:00 pm, "Cher" only came on at 6:52 pm.  It was hardly as if serious business weren't being done. 

But before the event started, Diane Legriede, the executive director of the State Democratic Committee, pointed to "Cher" and said the following:

"We cannot have THAT walking in the hallway."

"You cannot have THAT inside your Caucus."

"The State Committee will not have someone like THAT attending dinner -- THAT cannot come inside the ballroom."

"What if the press sees THAT -- what if they report on THAT in tomorrow's papers?"

Diane delivered these statements as a diatribe in the hallway, ironically, drawing attention to an intolerance that was far more embarrassing than anything around her.  She was also completely unself-conscious about referring to a transgender person repeatedly as THAT -- as not even a person --  while standing right next to Barbra Casbar, a member of the transgender community who is a leader in the three organizations sponsoring the Caucus.

Displaced Family not allowed to return home

by: Jason Springer

Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 03:13:51 PM EDT

Management of the Millstream Apartments has blocked the two adults and four children from returning to the three-bedroom unit damaged by the blaze. Perhaps most disturbing for the family that moved to the township from Newark, N.J. in 2005 looking for a better life, Millstream has refused to tell them why.

Lauren Johnson, feels that discrimination at more than one level is at play since the couple leads an alternative lifestyle and is black.

A district manager for Millstream's parent company Conifer Realty LLC, told the Times that her company's decision was based on information from the police investigation into the fire. She later declined to elaborate.

Schedule of events -- New Jersey marriage equality decision

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Sun Aug 13, 2006 at 08:30:58 PM EDT

This rally will occur just hours after the decision -- that same night.  If our side wins the case, the rally is about protecting the victory from a state constitutional ban on marriage equality.  If our side loses the case, the rally will kick off Garden State Equality's campaign to achieve marriage equality through legislation.

Garden State Equality and three legal organizations present a telephone town meeting on the legal impact of the New Jersey Supreme Court decision:  DAY AFTER DECISION at 7:00 pm, dial 1-800-566-8440, then enter code 479740.

The ultimate in news you can use:  Lawyers from Garden State Equality, Lambda Legal, the ACLU of New Jersey and the LGBTI Rights Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association assess the legal impact of the New Jersey Supreme Court decision on LGBTI New Jerseyans and our loved ones. 

Garden State Equality's post-decision rally in South Jersey:  TWO DAYS AFTER DECISION at 7:00 pm, Trinity Episcopal Church, 207 West Main Street, Moorestown.

Op-Ed: A Discrimination Emergency in The Bluest of States

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 12:28:06 AM EDT

  You don't have to look far for victims.  One of them is progressive leader Jacqui Charvet, who spent her entire life in New Jersey, never wanting to live anywhere else, until discrimination recently forced her to move thousands of miles away.  Jacqui was an active member of Garden State Equality and had been communications director of the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey, the state's transgender organization.  She was as devoted to progressive activism in New Jersey as they come.

  By profession, Jacqui was and remains a computer technician and web designer.  When she began her job search in 2002, she applied to companies across the state.  As she received rejection after rejection, some employers were painfully honest:  They would not hire Jacqui because she is transgender.  It didn't matter that she has impeccable credentials, state-of-the-art knowledge and one of the warmest, most engaging personalities imaginable.  Employers could not get past their own prejudice.  One potential employer sneered right in Jacqui's face:  We won't hire you because we're looking for a real woman.

  Jacqui's stack of rejections piled up into the hundreds, as did her days of not having a job.  In fact, years passed without Jacqui's being able to surmount New Jersey's discrimination emergency against the transgender community.  She was unemployed in 2002.  2003.  2004.  2005.  2006. 

  After all those years of pain, Jacqui finally found a job earlier this year – in Florida of all places.  Imagine that:  Jacqui was able to conquer discrimination by moving from New Jersey, which we at Garden State Equality call The State That Doesn't Hate, to Florida, the State That Doesn't Rate on any progressive scale.  The biggest loser is New Jersey itself, now experiencing a brain drain with the loss of Jacqui and other qualified transgender citizens who have had to leave the state.  Adding insult to injury, Jacqui's got Jeb Bush.

Jackson Twp Passes Domestic Partner Benefits

by: Juan Melli

Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 11:40:08 PM EST

From what I can see, I'm only one of millions who's been touched in a very big way by Lt. Hester's story. Her dignity and the incredible bravery she's displayed at the end of her life in wanting to change the world has inspired me to realize that as an elected official I should be standing by her side.

JUSTICE: Ocean County Freeholders Will Award Domestic Partner Benefits to Laurel Hester

by: Juan Melli

Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 10:00:26 AM EST

"This is one of the happiest days of my life...I feel like David conquering Goliath," said Laurel Hester on Saturday morning.

After nearly a year of refusing to grant Lt Laurel Hester the right to pass her pension benefits on to her partner, Ocean County's freeholders will finally grant Hester her dying wish when they vote on Wednesday.

Steven Goldstein of Garden State Equality: "Truth be told, we did lose hope for a reversal in the last couple of weeks. We had applied all the pressure in the world, embarrassing the freeholders and few public servants had ever been embarrassed before in the state of New Jersey or in this country, and they would not budge.  Finally they did. Hallelujah!  There is a God....Now that the Ocean County freeholders have done the right thing, we thank them with all our hearts and welcome them to the New Jersey of the 21st Century, where compassion and common-sense prevails over hatred and outmoded homophobia."

The change of heart came after the freeholders had a political meeting with other Republican leaders in the county.

Freeholder James Lacey: "I think we're doing the right thing now. I feel comfortable."

But there's more:

In addition, state Sen. Andrew Ciesla, R-Ocean, has asked the state Office of Legislative Services to prepare a bill he will sponsor that will eliminate the difference in the pension inheritance rights of members of the police and fire retirement system and other state public employee retirement systems.

I want to thank the freeholders for deciding to do the right thing before Laurel dies. Today is a monumental victory for civil rights. Justice prevailed over bigotry, and a Laurel Hester can die in peace knowing she left the world better than she found it.

Ocean Co. Freeholders: Impotent

by: Shelley

Thu Jan 19, 2006 at 08:48:30 AM EST

Laurel Hester News Roundup

by: Juan Melli

Wed Jan 18, 2006 at 09:51:36 AM EST

Several news outlets have taken notice:

Laurel Hester's ongoing impact

by: Juan Melli

Fri Jan 13, 2006 at 09:22:38 AM EST

Goldstein said that the attitude in Trenton toward expanding the partnership law was enhanced dramatically by the recent, highly publicized refusal of the Ocean County Board of Freeholders to extend benefits to Lieutenant Laurel Hester, a 24-year veteran police officer with the county prosecutor’s office who is dying of cancer. This past October, Hester personally asked the Board for such benefits, which the county can extend under the 2004 law, so that her domestic partner, Stacie Andree, could have the same pension rights that surviving spouses of county employees enjoy. Despite widespread protests and public condemnation of the freeholders—some of whom cited the “sanctity of marriage” as a defense—Ocean County has refused to budge. Several other counties, however, have since acted to extend domestic partner benefits to their employees.

“The Hester case was a real factor,” Goldstein said. “It was mentioned by every legislator I talked to you.”

Laurel is sick and will not be able to attend the freeholder meeting on January 18th, but there will be a video message from Laurel - her last direct appeal to the freeholders - played at the meeting. If you're in the area, considering coming out to support her on Wed, Jan 18 at 4 pm at the Ocean County Administration Building, 101 Hooper Avenue, Toms River.

Misplaced Priorities & Part 3 of "Laurel Hester's Wonderful Life"

by: Juan Melli

Fri Dec 23, 2005 at 11:43:18 AM EST

While they complain about the costs for petty things such as death pension benefits, they approve $175,000 worth of funding for expanding a library, including $60,000 for a "floor...with a special seascape." They then go on to hand out 192 turkeys and 400 toys to Ocean County veterans saying that each and every one deserves a "blessed holiday season." How ironic that as they honor war veterans, they refuse to let Laurel Hester - a veteran herself of the county's prosecutor's office - have the benefits she has worked 23 years for. Apparently they feel no shame in ruining her holiday season.

Part three of "It's Laurel Hester's Wonderful Life" is below, stolen completely from The Big Gay Picture. Read it all, and considering sending the Ocean County freeholders To Kill a Mockingbird before their January 7th meeting.

It's Laurel Hester's Wonderful Life, Part Two

by: Juan Melli

Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 01:03:46 PM EST

A letter by Dane Wells rebukes the freeholders' claims that the pension benefits requested would be a "tremendous cost":

Using the county's own inflated numbers, it seems the price of providing death benefits to the partners of all county workers would amount to about 23 cents a year for a typical taxpayer, or about half the cost of a single mile traveled in just one take-home county car.

Aside from a certain five freeholders with an annual budget exceeding $300 million, I don't think there are many county residents unwilling to pay just half the price of this newspaper to ensure the dignity and peaceful death of a fellow human being, let alone one who was such a loyal and devoted public servant.

As for the benevolence of the freeholders in pointing out the value of Laurel's employee life insurance, how horribly cruel that they left out the part that she has to die before her sick time runs out in a little more than a week for her beneficiary to collect it. I can only assume this deception was somehow sanctified.

But I was pleased to see that Lt. Hester is in the freeholders' "personal prayers." As they gather with their own pension-protected loved ones at Christmas, I would ask each of them to remember Laurel, struggling in agony for every breath, and yet hoping her last gasp will come before Jan. 1, when the stone coldheartedness of the Ocean County freeholders will leave her family homeless.

It's Laurel Hester's Wonderful Life, Part One

by: Juan Melli

Wed Dec 21, 2005 at 09:18:07 AM EST