“Over 800 people attended a gala fundraising dinner on Saturday for Garden State Equality, a gay rights organization that advocates same sex marriage. Tickets were between $225 and $1,000. Governor Jon Corzine told the attendees that he would sign a marriage equality law, saying he hopes he gets to do that in 2009. The Corzine administration also announced a new regulation allowing transgender New Jerseyans would to provide an affidavit of their gender identity to get the Motor Vehicle Commission to change the gender on their license to drive.” [Politicker NJ]
NJ Governor Says He’ll Sign Gay Marriage Law
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Sebbe
Go Corzine and the Garden State.
Tri-State area is working its way along with New England to be a buffer zone of equality.
Can somebody give him a makeover as a thank you now.
ask ena
He doesn’t need a makeover! grrrr……WOOF!
Hunky Trog
Reality check: With the entire N.J. house up for re-election this fall, it is highly unlikely that a marriage bill will be voted on, let alone make it to Corzine’s desk. Because, you know, lawmakers fears supporting the gays will cost them an election–despite the factual evidence to the contrary.
Nonetheless, it’s great to hear governors voice their support for the community–including the trans members.
Faeelin
Umm. Why would anyone get their hopes up about this?
After all, the NY Democrats made the same promise last fall.
John K.
I was at the GSE dinner. Corzine seemed to go further than he ever did before in saying “We will get this done in 2009.” Before, he had just said he would sign it if it reaches his desk. I know that we have sufficient votes in the Assembly, but we are two or three votes short in the Senate. The leaders of both houses and the governor support us, but they are dragging their feet a little because of the elections coming up. It’s expected that they will take up the bill during the lame-duck period. I’m hoping it’s not urgent by that point, i.e., I hope Corzine doesn’t lose the election. If that happens, the right wing will fight tooth and nail to stop it from happening during the lame-duck period. If Corzine wins re-election, it’s in the bag for sure.
Chris
@Hunky Trog:
However, Corzine committed to it an election year, though it won’t be voted on till next year.
GranDiva
Why can’t we have a Morning Goods with Jon Corzine?
That is one daddy bear I would totally do, and this legislation only helps matters.
Hunky Trog
@ John K: Great point. I agree: This topic will most likely be brought up in the lame duck period. Also, I personally have heard Assembly insiders say that lawmakers give lip service to marriage equality but wouldn’t actually vote on it and the votes aren’t there. I hope that’s wrong. Guess we’ll find out.
Darth Paul
@GranDiva: I support that TOTALLY.
getreal
Ah progress!
John K.
@Hunky Trog: Well, I hope you’re wrong about the Assembly. I did hear that it wasn’t exactly a solid win in the Assembly, but that there were enough commitments to pass it, assuming they do what they say. Either way, we’ve got a little bit more work to do, and we are. If you are from New Jersey or you know anyone who is, get involved with Garden State Equality. We’re building up our volunteer base and pushing to get those last few votes.
The Gay Numbers
Regardless of whether it’s this year or next- it’s good news. Do most people here know that from the time Brown v Board of Education was decided (ending racial segregation), it took another 15 years of litigation along with federal legislative action to end segregation? In fact, my hometown did not desegregate until well into the 60s. My point- it’s funny in a historical sense that while we should push (HARD) for our equality, we should realize that the reality of these things are a glacial pace. Or, as Martin Luther King said, “Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
Greg Ever
Is it just me, or does anyone else also find the Garden State Equality website essentially useless?
I am a NJ citizen and I feel like the GSE, who claims to be the state’s biggest gay rights organization, should have a much more informative and useful website. Sure, they have a page for people to volunteer, but what about having other things like a list of gay-related news within the state or more localized resources? Surely they could do a lot better.
Sebbe
@Greg Ever – I don’t live in Jersey (thankfully), but I did look at the website. You are right, it is rather a joke. It looks like it took all of about 10 mins to throw together.
John K.
To Greg and Sebbe:
There’s really only one piece of news that GSE is worried about, and that is that we are so close to getting this done, and we need as many volunteers as possible. The organization exists pretty much for that purpose alone: congregate our volunteers and have them lobby and lobby hard. That means, if the website has a place to volunteer, then it’s serving its purpose. Greg, are you a member of GSE?
If you were, you would also know that plenty of news is sent out via email to every member. News about smaller stories around the state, like the school board member that was forced to resign because he defended bullies’ use of the F-word to describe gay kids. GSE and the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance pressured him to resign.
That said, perhaps I am overreacting here. It may be more useful for the website to have more to it. I just hope that you won’t discount GSE’s credibility because of it. If you are not a member, you should be.
John K.
@The Gay Numbers: This is all well and good as long as Corzine wins re-election. As I understand it, the favored Republican candidate currently leads Corzine in head-to-head polls. All three Republican primary candidates, including the aforementioned one, have said they will veto a gay marriage bill. This needs to get done NOW.
Sebbe
No I won’t hold it against you and like I said I am not in Jersey, but I think it is really a missed opportunity. Mass Equality in Massachusetts did an excellent job with the site. Of course we had a full time webmaster working in the office as well as some other outside consulting help. I believe HRC foot the bill, but don’t quote me on that.
It really can be a useful tool to get new people involved and your supporters constantly updated and interested. Might want to think about putting some new effort into if things are really heating up. I’m sure you could even find some “interns” that would do it for almost nothing.
Greg Ever
@John K.:
Yes, I recently signed up for GSE’s newsletter after having discovered the site a few weeks ago, but haven’t received anything from them yet. I’m fairly new to being concerned with gay-related political issues, but I did write an email to GSE and offered some suggestions for their site and some of my time to help them if they want.
John K.
@Greg Ever: That’s great Greg. And I’m sorry again that I got all defensive for a second before; it was kinda ridiculous of me.
You are right, the site can be much better. I hope someone responds to your email soon. I don’t work for them, but I volunteer a lot and I have a decent relationship with some of the higher ups. What part of the state are you in? I’m in south Jersey, so if you are down here I can definitely make sure we get you involved. If you’re in central or north, I can at least try to get you directly in contact with the point people up there.
We’ve got an Action Fair coming up this Sunday, March 8 from 2-5 PM at the Unitarian Church in Cherry Hill, 401 Kings Highway North. It would be great if you could make it. We will be calling legislators, writing letters out to them, and probably phone-banking. But if nothing else, we can try to get you in contact with whoever you need to be in contact with to get started helping out with the site.