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.
I spent two days in two weeks (and preparing for more) at the statehouse listening to testimony on marriage equality. While I have yet to give a testimony myself (as a straight ally, I don't have as good a story as the LGBT community does), I did give a written testimony on why it is important to me that this bill is passed (unfortunately I probably live in the worst district in the state when it comes to marriage equality).
In the two days of testimony, all of the opposition's arguments against marriage equality had to do with religion. And in a country with freedom of religion, there are many various religions (and lack thereof) practiced in the United States, let alone a diverse state such as New Jersey (which is not exactly in the Bible Belt). Quoting the Bible has absolutely no meaning to a non-Christian.
Now by posting this challenge on Blue Jersey, I know that I am not exactly preaching to NOM's choir, but I will post to any lurking marriage equality opponents. Pretend that the legislature is 100% atheist. Any arguments you make mentioning God, the Creator, scripture, etc are irrelevant. Give ONE compelling reason why a non-believer should oppose marriage equality.
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
Statement from Hetty Rosenstein, New Jersey State Director of the Communications Workers of America:
Our progressive union has long been on the leading edge of civil rights fights. We marched alongside Martin Luther King in the fight for voting rights. We stood up for the Equal Rights Amendment. We were on the front lines for disability rights. We have negotiated domestic partnership and civil union rights in our contracts.
Marriage Equality is a Civil Rights issue, just as the right to organize and have a union is a civil rights issue.
For too long, New Jersey has denied one of the most basic rights -- the right to marry the person you love -- to hundreds of thousands of its citizens. To maintain the status quo, or allow the basic rights of a minority to be put at risk in a referendum, would mean continuing this fundamental injustice indefinitely.
While our members come from many diverse backgrounds, we are united in our belief that all loving and committed New Jersey residents should be free to marry the person they love.
We call on Trenton to enact marriage equality as quickly as possible. We can't wait.
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.
Thursday morning, the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee will hear testimony and then vote on A-1, the marriage equality bill, first up in the legislation line-up for the Assembly in the 215th NJ Legislature.
Eight days ago, Senate Judicary heard hours of testimony, then voted 8-4 to send the bill (companion to the Assembly bill) to the full Senate. Far more people showed up to testify on the pro-side, including a long list whose names were read at the end. Testimony on the pro-side was uplifting, accepting, community- and family-minded. Testimony on the anti-side repeatedly invoked Anne Heche as some kind of emblematic figure for a misguided impression of gay life. And there was talk of marriage equality leading to people marrying their dogs. All the infuriating, bigoted stuff you always hear trotted out when some folks get a microphone.
Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt of Cherry Hill has recently been chosen to chair a new committee to address women's and children's issues. I visited her in her Voorhees office today to learn about the goals of that committee as well as her opinions on other important issues. We discussed marriage equality, state education policy, the problems in nearby Camden, the setback for anti-bullying initiatives, and property tax reform. Also discussed was the slow pace of implementation of the medical marijuana law, where she proposed in interesting solution to the problem of finding dispensary sites.
In case you missed (I did), here is an unsmiling, and deadly serious NJ Speaker Sheila Oliver discussing Gov. Chris Christie's ignorant remark about the civil rights movement, made this week.
btw - New Jersey was the last state in the union to abolish slavery. Did you know that? It's part of the history lesson Oliver, Rush Holt, Reed Gusciora, Loretta Weinberg, John Wisniewski, Gordon Johnson, Rep. John Lewis and others have been required to review this week for the benefit of a governor who let a bit too much of his own prejudices show, as he attempted to make his stand against a rising tide of Equality in marriage going on in the New Jersey Legislature.
To be an effective advocate for progressive causes and social issues, it is important that you know your opponents. Understanding their positions, especially those coming from smart people with whom you may disagree, will help you hone your position and strengthen your arguments.
With that in mind, Joey Novick and I travelled to Morris Township earlier today to have a conversation with Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll. Carroll is a libertarian in the Ron Paul mode, and while most of his views are outside of what we may consider the mainstream, he is firmly entrenched in his principals. Our discussion included slavery, marriage equality, the voting rights act, anti-bullying legislation, medical marijuana, and what to do about Camden's crime and poverty. Some of Carroll's thoughts may be surprising or even shocking.
Rep. John Lewis, one of the most important figures in the Civil Rights Movement, stopped at the Trenton Train Station today with Congressman Rush Holt, Speaker Sheila Oliver, Senate Majority Leader and Blue Jerseyan Loretta Weinberg, DSC Chair and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson to denounce Chris Christie's call for civil rights to be decided by referendum.
Lewis, on his way with Holt to an event for 150 Trenton teenagers where he was speaking on civil rights history, made the point that should have been obvious to Christie: if civil rights had been decided by referendum in states such as Mississippi and Alabama - where Lewis said he "gave a little blood" on the march from Selma to Montgomery - it would have failed. And the fact that it would have failed would not have made the cause less just. Lewis said that the proper place for civil rights was through legislation, executive action, and the courts - the avenues that, rather than referendums, produced the changes that the mass movement made happen.
Lewis directly linked that fight to today's marriage equality fight, focusing heavily on the legendary Loving v. Virginia case on interracial marriage and stating that he found it analogous and a basic question of human rights.
Holt and Oliver delivered strong remarks - and Holt deserves particular credit for bringing Congressman Lewis to New Jersey.
Christie's attempts to backtrack this morning on the remarks brought their own new level of ridiculousness, labeling Reed Gusciora as "numbnuts." Especially after today's visit, it won't be so easy for Christie to shrug off comments that debase the legacy of true leaders like Lewis.
You've seen a minyan of rabbis testify in favor of the Marriage Equality bill at the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting this week. There were also dozens of Christian clergy supporting the bill. Their testimony provides a common sense, compassionate, and compelling case for the bill.
Responding to the apparent fact that the NJ Legislature may be finally getting its head together in treating gay couples in love with respect and recognizing their right to marry, Gov. Christie tried a headline-grabbing, but morally bankrupt dodge: He proposed a referendum, political cover for his obedient, spineless GOP legislative Muppets.
But the next day, Christie went further, and in doing so exposed both an ignorance of history, or given his intelligence, more likely a cunning attempt to twist it. He said this:
People would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South.
- Gov. Chris Christie, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012
Cheryl Contee said it well:(Christie's assertion is) if Southern whites in the 1940s, 50s and 60s had just been given enough time, they would have totally been down for equality with their black neighbors. They would have even voted for it themselves!
But yesterday, closer to home, Cory Booker set the Governor straight, and it's a thing of beauty:
In addition to hearing from couples on the failure of the civil union law, and from clergy on both sides of the issue, the Senate Judiciary committee heard from a panel of lawyers explaining why the current Civil Union law does not work.
There were dozens of clergypersons at Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Hearings on marriage equality, representing many faiths and both sides of the issue. One of the largest contingents was a group of Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative rabbis from around the state, speaking in favor of marriage equality. Garden State Equality's Steven Goldstein referred to them as "a minyan of rabbis."
Yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on marriage equality made me proud of several legislators - veterans and freshmen alike. Below the fold are videos of the remarks of Senate President Sweeney, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, and two openly gay Assemblymen - Reed Gusciora and Tim Eustace. As a bonus, Assemblyman Eustance's son, Kyle, also testified.
In our constitutional republic/representative democracy, the voters in our state elect a Governor and legislators to make hard decisions, not come up with excuses about why they cannot or gimmicks like passing the buck back to the voters. New Jersey does not need to amend its constitution to provide gay men and women with equal rights under the law. Our State Supreme Court has already ruled on this issue and ordered our legislature to do just that, which it has done insufficiently to date.
The legislation before the Assembly and Senate that will go to the Governor for his signature or veto addresses earlier failures. Governor Chris Christie has spent his first two years in office priding himself on his boldness and the courage of his convictions. Signing
or vetoing this legislation or would be consistent with that assessment of his performance. Passing the buck back to the voters is not.
If Governor Christie signs the legislation, then this issue will be resolved once and for all. If he vetoes it, we will do everything in our power to try to override his veto. If we fail to do this, then we will ask the State Supreme Court, which may include Governor Christie's recent appointees, to determine once and for all whether or not existing legislation satisfies its earlier ruling.
We have three branches of government who are tasked with the responsibility of making hard decisions like this one, not come up with excuses why they cannot or gimmicks like passing the buck back to the voters. If Governor Christie, our state legislators, and our State Supreme Court justices, including the Governor's appointees, are not afraid to make hard decisions, then there can only be one reason why Christie and the Republicans in Trenton are proposing to pass the buck back to the voters.
Here is today's vote on marriage equality along with the statements from each of the senators. It's worth watching - from the eloquence of Senators Gill and Weinberg to the cowardice of Senator Bateman to the political posturing of Senator Kyrillos. Congratulations to Senators Lesniak, Weinberg, and Sweeney, and to Steven Goldstein for this momentous step.
