QOTD: The next generation of Democrats will not balk at the opportunity to confer civil rights

by: Jason Springer

Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 07:10:04 PM EST

"I can only find solace in the fact that the next generation of Democrats, which overwhelmingly support marriage equality, will not balk at the opportunity to confer civil rights on their fellow citizens."

New Jersey College Democrats' Response to the Failure of S.1967

by: NJCollegeDems

Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:52:10 PM EST

(TRENTON)- Jay Swanson, President of the New Jersey College Democrats, conveyed his deep disappointment in the New Jersey Legislature's failure to pass the Marriage Equality Bill. Over the past few weeks, Democratic leaders have been tossing the issue back and forth, pushing for the opposing house to take action first, but on Thursday it was voted on by the full Senate.

"Representing Democrats in colleges and universities across the state, I can say with profound certainty that the Legislature has let us down and has delayed equality for thousands of New Jersey's citizens," remarked Swanson. A marriage equality bill will have to wait at least another four years for consideration because Republican Governor-elect Chris Christie has vowed to veto any marriage equality bill that reaches his desk.

"I cannot give enough credit to Garden State Equality, which has worked and lobbied tirelessly on behalf of equal rights for gay couples," continued Swanson. "The fight is far from over and I sincerely hope that in the near future, we can live in a state and a country that treats all of its citizens as equals."

Several Democratic state senators either expressed their outward opposition to the measure, or were unwilling to publicly take a position prior to the vote. Support for the bill was equally shaky in the Assembly where Democrats hold a larger majority. "Those Democrats who voted 'nay' will be judged to have been on the wrong side of history," concluded Brian Block, President of the TCNJ College Democrats. "I can only find solace in the fact that the next generation of Democrats, which overwhelmingly support marriage equality, will not balk at the opportunity to confer civil rights on their fellow citizens."

My education in New Jersey politics

by: Aegletes

Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:43:45 AM EST

Yesterday saw the long-awaited vote in the New Jersey state senate on the issue of marriage equality. I won't go into the legal aspects of this issue, all stemming from a court case decided a few years ago by the New Jersey supreme court finding that the state was required to offer same-sex couples the same rights and protections as currently enjoyed by straight couples who are married under the state's civil marriage statute. That the state legislature's 2006 civil unions statute has failed to meet the requirements of the court decision has been amply demonstrated. What remained was for the legislature to do not only the right thing with respect to justice, but to do what it had to do to comply with New Jersey's state constitution. Yesterday, the New Jersey state senate failed to do that.

But the story is much more nuanced than simply focusing on a 20-14 tally would suggest. After all, three Democrats abstained from voting altogether: Senate judiciary committee chair Sarlo, who had voted no in committee in December, abstained rather than voting no again, with no explanation offered. Senator Beach, whose district includes the city of Collingswood with its large gay population, likewise abstained and promptly fled the chamber refusing to explain why. Incoming senate preside Sweeney, who admitted that our side had made a persuasive argument for marriage equality, abstained. Yes, the incoming leader of the upper chamber of the New Jersey state senate, a man who through a power play was able to push aside a widely-respected leader like Senator Codey, demonstrated his idea of leadership by failing to vote on probably one of the most important pieces of legislation in quite some time. Senator Sweeney's brand of leadership is to see which way the political winds are blowing and to act accordingly. He's not a leader. He's not even a follower. He's a weather vane.

And the hypocrite of the decade goes to......

by: tabbycat31

Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 12:07:20 AM EST

In the last five years, the city of Asbury Park has made a miraculous comeback.  For the first time in over a generation people want to move to and visit Asbury Park.  People are no longer afraid of walking down the streets of Asbury.  One group of people is largely (and correctly) credited with Asbury Park's comeback.  And Bruce Springsteen has nothing to do with this group.  The group is the gay and lesbian community, who invested in Asbury Park's comeback.  Now the city has a boardwalk with many new businesses, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment.  The gay community is as essential to Asbury Park's comeback as water is to an aquarium.  Unfortunately the one person that Asbury Park counted on to be an ally in Trenton just threw the community where he works (in his non-government job) and his constituents under the bus.  Today, Senator Kean, you threw your friends who own a restaurant in Ocean Grove, and helped you celebrate being elected, under the bus.  I hope that they have the dignity to no longer call you their friend.  

Today, Senator Kean, I am ashamed to call myself your constituent.  I first contacted you Senator about the issue of marriage equality over a year ago, when I realized it could be on New Jersey's radar.  I received a letter in response completely flipping my view and thanking me for "supporting traditional marriage" and was absolutely disgusted.   (On a side note, can anyone in a traditional marriage who's marriage was negatively affected by someone else's same sex marriage please contact me.)  As a legislator, you are welcome to disagree with me on an issue, but you have an obligation to listen to my opinion because ultimately you represent me.  You did not listen to my opinion and instead flipped it, and that Senator is unacceptable behavior.   I thought you would be a complete long shot on the issue when I first volunteered at Garden State Equality, and was pleasantly surprised to see you on the fence.  However today on the senate floor, I saw more flip-flops from you than I see on a summer day on the beach.  You had our hopes up and then let us down.  

Senator Kean, after admitting that you represent "the gayest district in the state" why on earth would you vote against your constituents?  On the senate floor today, you mentioned that this issue impacts "only a minority."  But Senator, do you realize that more than the minority care about marriage equality?  I've been fighting for marriage equality since June, and this is an issue that has no impact on me whatsoever.  I'm a straight woman who is perpetually single.  I take my right to marry for granted.  But there are several people who have been in committed relationships for years that would love to get married, but New Jersey is keeping them from doing so even if their religion allows it.  

Do you not realize that the gay community is very politically active?  You do realize that your vote today possibly cost you any political future, including your senate seat.  And don't think that your district is always Republican either, as President Obama carried the district in 2008.  The fight has just begun, and this will be the first of many articles I write on the political future of Sean Kean.  As a progressive community (gay and straight), we now have to mobilize.  We need to find a candidate who can defeat Sean Kean, and make him regret his vote on marriage equality.  If there was ever a call to action, this is it.  As soon as I hear any news on a potential challenger to Sean Kean, I will update the Blue Jersey community.  

June 2011

by: Matthew Jordan

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 10:41:42 PM EST

Senator Van Drew is honestly the only person on this list who deserves a pass, his district is just overwhelmingly Republican.  

I've never been more disgusted and embarrassed than I was today to be a Democrat.  

Can we make this the official primary candidate suggestion list?  

NJ Stonewall Comments on Marriage Equality

by: EJZip

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 08:07:26 PM EST

Barbra Casbar-Siperstein, President, New Jersey Stonewall Democrats tells us:
"Despite the leadership of bill sponsors Democratic Senator Loretta Weinberg and Democratic Senator Raymond Lesniak and the hard work of grassroots activists including the members of the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats, the bill failed with 14 yes votes and 20 no votes.
"Today's vote just prolongs the inequality felt by same-gender couples across New Jersey, and underscores a stark truth: as the LGBT community continues to fight for our equal rights, we need to pay attention to whom we are electing to office. The importance of electing pro-equality Democrats has never been clearer."

I say: "that if Governor Corzine had been re-elected over anti-equality Governor-elect Christie, I believe we would have had the necessary support for the bill to pass as our legislators would have voted their conscience and made all LGBTI citizens equal under the law."

The New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006 obligated the state legislature to provide either marriage or another structure that provides equal protection to same gender couples in New Jersey. Today the legislature failed to do so and has admitted that civil unions do not provide equal protection. NJ Stonewall Democrats supports Garden State Equality's and Lambda Legal's decision to fight today's decision in the state courts.

Only 1 South Jersey Democratic senator supports marriage equality and other thoughts

by: vingopal

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 05:56:11 PM EST

See below the thread...

Marriage Equality - We're going back to court

by: Rosi Efthim

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 04:54:11 PM EST

It boggles the mind that the New Jersey Senate could vote down - and by wide margin - a bill recognizing the civil rights of its citizens. Astonishing, too, is that this could happen with supporters by the hundreds - and maybe thousands today - all taking the day off to participate in the proceedings and make their opinions heard. But today's vote is not a surprise; the writing's been on the wall, in blood, for days.

But there is no giving up. All day long I've been asking people whether this finishes it for them. It does not. The movement is resilient. In a few minutes, as soon as everybody gets over there, there is a news conference. Here are Steven Goldstein's remarks, prepared last night, and embargoed to Blue Jersey until now.

Steven Goldstein:

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.

More after the jump.

Snapshots from the Senate Marriage Equality vote

by: Rosi Efthim

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 03:46:30 PM EST

State Senate Marriage Equality Liveblog

by: Scott Weingart

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 02:08:04 PM EST

Today the State Senate is scheduled to debate and vote on S1967, the marriage equality bill. Live video can be found here, now that the session is underway. The calendar is pretty packed today, with six nominations and over fifty bills scheduled for a vote.

Final Tally of Marriage Equality bill in the NJ Senate

Unless the NJ Supreme Court grows a spine, gay people must wait until at least 2014 to get married in New Jersey.

The play-by-play of the Senate debate is below the fold.

Marriage Equality Vote in Trenton, open thread

by: Jay Lassiter

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 01:05:24 PM EST

Today is the day that the NJ Senate finally votes on marriage equality.  This is hardly a news flash for regular readers of this blog, but it's still feels kinda surreal that it's finally show time.

If anyone reading has pics, video or updates to add, please feel free to share here.  If you're on site in Trenton, grab a snack cuz it's gonna be a long day....... I estimate the marriage vote to go down sometime around 5:30pm.  

At the Statehouse for the full Senate marriage equality vote

by: Rosi Efthim

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 12:59:07 PM EST

At 2pm: Full Senate will be session. They will hear and vote on marriage equality during that session. Click this link to listen live at that time and choose Senate Session.

Security is tighter even than usual, which is how it should be. I can tell you the rabbi quotient is higher than other times I've been here, but the number of marriage equality supporters is exponentially higher than that. I'm going to leave my safe, warm blogging location now (yay! I have my own outlet!) and go downstairs to talk to some of the people here.  

Be A Hero

by: JRB

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 08:29:41 AM EST

There aren't many instances where someone can wake up in the morning, walk into a room and turn the tide of a debate. But that is what can happen this morning if just ONE of the state senators opposing marriage equality decides to do what he or she knows in the heart is right.

Opportunities like this don't come along often. So please, senators: this is your chance to do something great. To defy the old Trenton muckety-muck and be a hero to so many New Jersey families.

Senators, Which side are you on?

by: Rosi Efthim

Wed Jan 06, 2010 at 04:09:04 PM EST

It's an ugly letter. Read it anyway. Send it to your legislators. They have a choice to make: Are they going to stand with you, with Julian Bond, with civil rights advocates like Rep. John Lewis who stood at the side of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and straight married Catholics like Parsippany's Betty Wyka who spoke so movingly that same sex marriage won't hurt her traditional marriage?

Or do they stand with these people, the name-callers, who call the President "the Beast" and clergy members "false prophets?" Who lapse into anti-semitism like it's nothing, and threaten doom like they're sure God speaks only to them? Who hate their countrymen so viciously that they cannot bring them selves to spell America with a capital A.

If they vote No, this is who will be celebrating:

Tomorrow's Bread

by: JRB

Wed Jan 06, 2010 at 01:59:23 PM EST

Besides my mother's secret and uncanny sixth sense for ascertaining a person's weight, I don't tend to write about personal stuff here, or anywhere, really. But on the eve of a vote that may decide the issue of marriage equality for some time, I wanted to share this.

In 1968, my dad graduated from college and was promptly drafted into the United States Army. When he got out, he spent the better part of the 1970s going to grad school at night. His days were occupied by his job as a teacher in the New Jersey state prison system. He helped inmates learn to read better, get their GEDs and exposed them to new fields of study. One of those fields was literature.

This old job of my dad's led to a bookshelf in the basement of the house I grew up in being filled with a number of interesting volumes that I otherwise would have had little exposure to. All kinds of Afro-American autobiographies and prison poetry collections -- some with titles too provocative for my thirteen year-old mind to comprehend.

See, I had just graduated from reading all the Dickens and Jules Verne and Twain we had lying around, but had yet to move on to my next literary hero, Ray Bradbury. I had heard of this guy Langston Hughes in school, and his poetry collections were the most numerous among this odd bookshelf.

So I picked up one titled THE PANTHER AND THE LASH, but none of the pages I flipped to interested me. And then I pulled down a tall, slender green hardcover with an etching of a man on its face (which I later learned were done by E. McKnight Kauffer).

One of the first (perhaps the first) page I turned to was in the back. A poem called, "Democracy."

Joe Roberts: Marriage Equality Lifeline?

by: Jay Lassiter

Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 08:09:25 PM EST

Something for the Blue Jersey community to consider:

1. The marriage equality fight seemed lost when the Assembly Judiciary Committee didn't schedule a vote yesterday.  

2.  A debate on that committee would have been another 7 hour knock-down drag-out Assembly version of the same scene that played out in the Senate.

3.  It's very rare for the Assembly Speaker to exercise the prerogative and post a bill for a full vote without the (largely pro-forma) Assembly Judiciary panel hearing, which is what Speaker Roberts has done in this instance.

4. The Speaker's moved shifted the fulcrum point back to Dick Codey and to the Senate, and (co-incidentally?) a Senate vote was promptly posted.

5.  The marriage equality bill is posted for a full vote in both houses! We'll know soon enough who the heros and villains are, right?     In the meantime -- and I'll repeat -- we got the bill posted!  So the smartest tact at this point is for us activists to focus all our energies at Senators like Shirley Turner and Paul Sarlo or even Jennifer Beck.  

I know as well as anyone that passions run incredibly deep but we gotta stay disciplined for the next few days.  There's important Senate side-work left to do.

And not a lot of time to do it.

Full Senate to vote on Marriage Equality Thursday

by: Rosi Efthim

Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 02:01:31 PM EST

If you have ever testified on this issue, if this issue matters to you - gay, straight, married or single, at any age, this is a time to come to the statehouse in Trenton and make sure your legislature hears from you.

UPDATE #3: Statement from Speaker Joe Roberts:

As a strong supporter of marriage equality, I'm pleased to see the legislation will get a debate and a vote on Thursday in the Senate.

Our civil union law has failed to live up to even the most modest of hopes and encourages unequal treatment of same-sex couples and their children. We cannot tolerate anything less than equal treatment for all committed couples, so I hope the bill earns enough support to pass the Senate.

If the Senate approves it, I will take the extraordinary step of bringing the bill directly to the Assembly floor for a vote during our Monday voting session.

UPDATE #2: There is a call to action for this Thursday at 10:30am in front of the statehouse, to march between the statehouse and the statehouse annex, and then talk to legislators before the vote.

More details, address, parking, and reception after the vote, after the jump ...

UPDATE #1 2:10pm: With confirmation that the full Senate will hear bill S1967 Freedom of Religion and Equality in Civil Marriage Act, Senate President Dick Codey issues this statement:

Given the intensely personal nature of this issue, I think the people of this state deserve the right to a formal debate on the Senate floor.  I'd like to commend both sides of this issue for their passionate advocacy thus far and the heartfelt testimony that we have heard.

The Senate voting session is scheduled for 2 pm on Thursday, January 7.  Further information on accommodations for the media and the general public will be released tomorrow.

Another Day in Trenton for Marriage

by: Jeff Gardner

Mon Jan 04, 2010 at 07:01:05 PM EST

Hundreds of marriage equality supporters showed up this morning, in spite of (or maybe because of?) Speaker Joe Roberts' New Year's Eve announcement that the Assembly would not conduct hearings on the issue. They formed the familiar sea of blue t-shirts with the simple message of what we want: Equality - the American Dream. It is so inspiring to see the huge numbers of equality supporters - faces old and young, gay and straight, of every race - who have made the trip to Trenton for each of these lobby days.

Of course, you should look for articles in the newspaper tomorrow that say things like "advocates on both sides of the marriage issue were in Trenton yesterday" because there were indeed about ten (12?) anti-equality advocates there too. And, they were sporting a new look! Gone were the "Let the People Vote" buttons - replaced by t-shirts proclaiming that "Marriage has a Purpose" and that purpose is to make babies, who will be raised by both a man and a woman. (I'm not making this up.)

The marriage equality activists filled the hearing rooms, worked the hallways, and gathered on the statehouse steps for a rally and press conference at high noon, when we heard from some of the folks who would have been testifying at the hearings, had they taken place. As one of the speakers noted - it was freezing outside, but our spirits were red hot!

We also heard from a large group of religious leaders from a variety of faiths - off the top of my head, I remember Jewish, Episcopal, Church of Christ, Lutheran, and Baptist leaders, though there were others. They were reiterating the point over a hundred of their colleagues made earlier today in the Clergy Letter for Equality delivered to legislators - that their freedom of religion is being violated by the state's refusal to recognize the marriages they perform in the sanctity of their houses of worship.

I confess - of all the arguments for passing the marriage bill (legal, moral, economic, fairness, justice, equality, etc.) - it's this one that I can't believe has not yet prevailed. The fact that legislators are literally and openly choosing one faith's teachings over the teachings of others to dictate what the law of our state will be flies in the face of everything I've ever learned about how our country was founded.

But, back to the freezing press conference.

We heard from a number of Assembly supporters - Valerie Huttle, John McKeon and Mila Jasey - each of whom braved the cold to address the crowd with words of admiration that struck me as containing both encouragement and regret. Encouragement to keep fighting for what we all know is right. Regret that the legislature of which they are members has yet to deliver on its promise of equality.

And, everywhere, before and after the press conference, and down every hallway, the conversation was being had - the one that we're going to keep having. About how this should not be happening - a community forced to beg its elected officials to be treated as equals - and how we need to make sure this will never happen again.

A new Marriage Equality letter - from 120 clergy in 19 NJ faiths

by: Rosi Efthim

Mon Jan 04, 2010 at 09:09:10 AM EST

I believe this, so therefore, your rights should be limited, because my belief tradition tells me they should.

News coverage focused on those people (even though plenty clergy in favor showed up), who while they feel strongly, were trying to apply private beliefs to public civic questions, claiming equality would endanger their religious freedom. In fact the reverse is true; clergy who are accepting and ready to perform marriage for same-sex couples cannot do that now. And opponents are only a slice of where New Jersey's faith community is on marriage equality. A letter - with a far broader representation New Jersey's religious leaders - in strong support of marriage equality, and signed by 120 clergy from 19 faiths, was sent today to Senate President Dick Codey and Speaker Joe Roberts. The letter asks that both leaders put the marriage equality bill to a vote before their full respective houses in this legislative session, without precondition.

It's a good letter; tough and direct. It points out that New Jersey's current marriage law is not religiously neutral but reflects the beliefs of leaders of a particular religion opposing marriage equality. And stands behind Republican Senator Bill Baroni's amendment to even further strengthen strong protections for religious freedom - ensuring no religious organization or facility can be sued because it follows its own conscience in which marriages it will accommodate, and which it will not. That America has never let one religious doctrine determine secular law, pointing out - as Asm Reed Gusciora did in his Dec. 7 testimony - that the state provides for divorce even though some traditions find it impermissible, and that New Jersey would never ban civil divorce.

And then it gently asks the state to "get out of our sanctuaries and uphold our religious freedom as clergy to marry whom we wish, or don't wish, under State law."

Full letter's under the fold. Is your family's faith tradition on this list? Or its leaders?

What the state Democratic Party is betting on

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Sun Jan 03, 2010 at 11:06:35 AM EST

Hi, Blue Jersey, and happy new year to you!  

Part of the buzz in Democratic circles in Trenton is this:  Look, after the marriage equality battle is over, Chris Christie will be so conservative, so anathema to the progressive Democratic base, that the progressive base - as upset as it is with the state party now - will come rallying to Democrats no matter what we do on marriage equality.  

According to this thinking, there's no way progressives would support or even sit out an election between an awful conservative and a Democrat aligned with progressives on every issue but one or two.

This, friends, will indeed be the major debate among us progressives, including here at Blue Jersey, I gather.  I, for one, believe we're going to have to make painful choices - choices that will show the state Democratic Party some tough love and prove its theory wrong.

It won't be easy for many of us as we do wind up seeing some far right-wing policies that will drive us nuts.

But for the longer run, to remake the state's Democratic Party - to make it as progressive as rank-and-file Democrats all across New Jersey - we're going to have to take a stand, and it's going to have to have some surprises that shock the establishment and make it clear we progressives will never be taken for granted again.  

Otherwise, for years and years to come, the best we will ever do is a state Democratic Party that acts like it does right now.

For those who might think, "What impractical, ideology-driven thinking; it would be ridiculous if we were to cut our noses off to spite our face and sit out an election or oppose Democrats who don't reflect all we stand for," I say this:

You're right - were we to live in Montana.  We happen to live in a progressive state where good progressive policies are not at odds with good electoral politics.  

If we don't use our own New Jersey as our laboratory for making the party as progressive as its members, we will have defaulted on our obligation to improve the lives of a generation to come.