« Go back a post || Return to G-A-Y homepage || Haul tail to next post »
01/07/2010
Because giving up is for those who are wrong
GARDEN STATE EQUALITY AND LAMBDA LEGAL ANNOUNCE: BACK TO COURT TO WIN MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NEW JERSEY
The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2006, in a case brought by Lambda Legal, that same-sex couples must be treated equally under the state Constitution.
The courts now have monumental proof that the civil union law has failed to provide equal protection.
Garden State Equality: “We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.”
Below are the remarks of Garden State Equality Chair Steven Goldstein, at today's post-Senate vote news conference:
"With today’s vote in the state Senate, the New Jersey legislature defaulted on its constitutional obligation to provide same-sex couples in New Jersey equal protection, as unanimously mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006. That’s why we at Garden State Equality are here with our partner Lambda Legal, which has an extraordinary track record of advancing LGBT civil rights in the courts.
Now our organizations will announce major news. Our side is going back to court to win marriage equality.
We’ll hear from Lambda Legal in a moment. Let’s be clear about what this news means. We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.
In 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court told the legislature it could enact marriage or another structure that provides the equal protection of marriage. But the civil union law failed to do that. Too often, civil union couples too often cannot visit loved ones in hospitals, make medical decisions for their partners or receive equal health benefits from employers. Hospitals and employers have treated civil union couples differently because they’ve been labeled differently. Children have been treated differently at school because their families are labeled differently.
In recent months, including today and at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December, New Jersey legislators publicly recognized these failures. They publicly acknowledged that the civil union law has not provided equal protection. That’s important. New Jersey legislators themselves said it. Our opponents in the legislature said it.
In other words, though we didn’t achieve our final victory today, we’re better positioned than we were a few months ago to win marriage equality. So if you’re wondering how we feel, it’s complicated. On the one hand, we resent, more than you can imagine, remaining second-class citizens a bit longer. On the other hand, the ball has moved forward. The public record for the courts is mighty, and we’re closer than ever to winning.
In 2006, New Jersey enacted an experiment called civil union. In 2010, New Jersey has a mountain of proof that the experiment has failed.
Now let’s talk about what happened politically.
Things didn’t go our way in the legislature because of one factor: Governor Corzine lost reelection.
After his win in November, Governor-elect Christie persuaded a number of legislators to reverse their support of the bill. Before the election, nearly every neutral observer in New Jersey thought marriage equality was certain to become law in lame duck. It became the zeitgeist in Trenton, with good reason. In contrast to today’s outcome, before the election we had votes to spare in the Senate, including from a number of Republicans.
But the election changed everything and our national opponents changed nothing. They didn’t do much or spend much in New Jersey. As you saw from our thousands of members at the State House these past few weeks who symbolized the massiveness of our campaign, we overwhelmed our opponents on every front – but one. Our opponents had the Governor-elect on their side, and that’s all they needed to have. It’s ironic given that marriage equality wasn’t even an issue in the election, and that the candidates who favored marriage equality together won a majority.
All this said, we extend to Governor-elect Christie an outstretched hand. He will be the Governor of all of us. We ask him to continue the tradition of his Republican predecessors, Christie Whitman and Tom Kean, who always kept an open door to the LGBT community. And though we differ with the Governor-elect on marriage equality, we also seek to explore with him and his Administration the issues on which we may have agreement and can work together.
No political party should write off any constituency. And no party should take any constituency for granted either. Our fundamental right to equality should never have been left to sudden death overtime by the party to which the LGBT community and our allies have been unstintingly loyal and have given so much.
To be clear, we will continue to support those who support us. Over the past five-and-a-half years, the separate Garden State Equality political committee has provided thousands of campaign volunteers and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for supportive candidates through contributions to the organization, or through contributions from individuals directly to candidates.
Of course, when we exceed politicians’ expectations in ways they like, we never hear, you’re going too far, your fervor is too much. That double standard, which other minority communities have heard in their own fights for equality, hurts deeply. And it hurts everyone who stands for equality, including supporters in the majority.
Now there will be a sustained response not only from the LGBT community, but also from straight progressive voters who have been our equal partners. Marriage equality stopped being just a gay issue long ago.
To those who let us all down, here’s our policy: Don’t ask, don’t expect. You can’t take progressives’ money and volunteers with one hand, slap us in the face with the other, and then act astonished when we declare our independence. The marketplace of democracy runs along a two-way street.
Members and friends, today was not an outcome lost, but rather a juncture in an otherwise glorious road to justice. Since Garden State Equality’s founding in 2004, New Jersey has enacted 210 LGBT civil rights laws at the state, county and local levels, a national record. We have 64,000 members – LGBT and straight alike – who have improved the lives of millions. A watchdog organization, eQualityGiving.com, just ranked New Jersey #1 in America for LGBT rights, tied with three other states, and we haven’t even won marriage equality yet.
But we will soon. Cesar Chavez said it best. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the people who feel pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.
Before I introduce our colleagues from Lambda Legal, some thanks are in order. Thank you to all our Senate sponsors, including prime sponsors Loretta Weinberg and Raymond Lesniak. We appreciate Loretta and Raymond beyond measure for their indefatigable leadership, and extend to them our love. We thank Senators Bill Baroni and Nia Gill – unwavering voices for justice at our committee hearing. We thank all our Assembly sponsors, including prime sponsors Reed Gusciora, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, John McKeon and Mila Jasey. We thank our Governor Corzine and Speaker Roberts for their support. And let me say this about Governor Dick Codey: He’s been an extraordinary champion of equality who kept his word about a Senate vote. Every progressive in New Jersey should view Governor Codey as a hero.
We thank the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, Gill Action, the Civil Marriage Collaborative, the Arcus Foundation and Freedom to Marry, which have given us resources and wisdom. We thank our partners at the state level, including the ACLU of New Jersey, BlueWave, Democracy for America, New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and the state’s progressive voice on the web, Blue Jersey, to which we owe so much.
We thank our spectacular field staff who joined us from across the country. We thank our executive committee, board, staff and donors who make Garden State Equality possible. We thank the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition for its decades of groundwork. We thank all the supportive staff in the legislature and executive branch. We especially thank our thousands of volunteers – the stars of Garden State Equality – who rallied at the State House and worked in our offices and in the field throughout the year. And if I may, I thank my partner Daniel and all the loved ones of our staff and volunteers who have supported us and sacrificed so much.
Most of all, we thank our colleagues at Lambda Legal, without whom our march toward equality would never have gotten this far. We’re thrilled to reunite with our partner Lambda Legal in the next stage of the battle. Please welcome Leslie Gabel-Brett, Lambda Legal’s director of education and public affairs."
#
Your thoughts
What a great response in a tough time. An encouraging read.
Posted by: twilley | Jan 7, 2010 5:22:44 PM
Go for it! PS Would it be PC for the 25% gay district that had the White Male R rep who voted against marriage .... VOTE him OUT! I do hope the 'gay friends' that had his swearing in party at their establishment, not allow him in any more.
Posted by: LOrion | Jan 7, 2010 5:46:26 PM
As much as I wanted to believe that the marriage equality bill would pass the Senate, I just didn't see it happening. At least we know where they stand and, like New York, the New Jersey LGBT community and their supporters can work to replace those who voted against the bill with more pro-equality people in office. I hope Lambda Legal and Garden State Equality is successful with the supreme court.
Posted by: Sam | Jan 7, 2010 6:13:54 PM
Salt Lake City has an ordinance and registry for LGBT couple to get 'Mutually Committed'. Not sure that it would count on your chart, but it would be great to acknowledge that UT's LGBT community and supporters are recognizing such achievements.
Q Salt Lake, Utah's only LGBT media source, will be giving away a Same-Sex marraige or Mutual Committment Ceremony by March 18th, when we publish our annual Wedding Guide. Today with our Jan. 8th, 2010 issue, we have chosen our write-in winning couple, Jessica Engel and Amanda Brown, and their story living in Salt Lake City has been dramatic, as Amanda is living with HIV, and after a story about their relationship was published in The Salt Lake Tribune, Jessica was fired from her job (which is completely legal in most of the state of Utah). One month ago, the City of Salt Lake passed a city ordinance making it illegal to fire someone because they are gay or lesbian.
Give me a cal if you would like more information or if we can post information on your blog about our Same-sex Wedding Giveaway.
Sincerely,
Brad Di iorio
Salt Lick Publishing
Q Salt Lake / The Q Pages / qsaltlake.com / theqpages.com
801-649-6663 / cell 323-459-8988 / 800-806-7357
[email protected]
Posted by: Brad Di Iorio | Jan 7, 2010 6:15:21 PM
That was a wonderful, graceful and eloquent response to a devastating vote. It also was hopeful; letting us know that GSE has a Plan B in place and is ready to go. Reading it takes some of the sting out of the disappointment I feel after the vote. Thanks, Steve and GSE!
Posted by: Robert Shaub | Jan 7, 2010 6:39:04 PM
The line that jumped out at me in this statement is: "before the election we had votes to spare in the senate". If this is true then why wasn't the vote taken months ago?!? The answer, of course, is that the Democratic leadership are a bunch of cowards who felt that doing anything controversial would hurt Corzine's reelection prospects. Elections DO change things, anyone in politics knows that, but Corzine and the Democrats were willing to gamble our civil rights away on the chance that they could get a few more bigot votes in November. Disgusting! We are faced with the choice between a party of bigots and a party of cowards. I'm not sure anymore which is worse.
Posted by: Ken | Jan 7, 2010 9:17:24 PM
comments powered by Disqus