A Blueprint for Change in New Jersey

The state of New Jersey is moving toward equality faster than most states in this country, and one of the reasons for that is the inclusive approach their largest advocacy organization, Garden State Equality, takes.



Here is a feature about them from Bay Windows newspaper in Boston.



Activists in New Jersey, which passed a gay rights bill in 1992, landed a one-two punch in 2006 and 2008, passing first a non-discrimination bill and then a hate crimes bill covering gender identity and expression. Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality, the state’s largest LGBT rights organization, said that it took little effort to win over lawmakers on the bills because many of them were already familiar with members of the transgender community and understood the discrimination they faced. He said transgender people have served in leadership positions in Garden State Equality and other organizations, and they lobbied lawmakers on a wide range of issues, including marriage.



"If you make sure that transgender people are in every facet of your organization, if you make sure they’re in the leadership of your organization, you’re providing constant exposure to politicians. ... Here transgender people are front and center in the fight for marriage equality," said Goldstein. "The politicians here see transgender people year round at the table."



One of those trans activists at the table was Barbra Casbar Siperstein, vice-chair of Garden State Equality and president of New Jersey Stonewall Democrats. Through her work with Stonewall she became one of the delegates to the Boston Democratic National Convention in 2004, and she used that event to network with many of the lawmakers who would later help pass the non-discrimination and hate crimes bill. Prior to the convention advocates had searched in vain for a Senate sponsor for the non-discrimination bill, but Siperstein said during the DNC she connected with the eventual sponsor and talked to her about transgender rights."



We had spent a couple of hours talking -- she was in the front row one night at the convention -- so she was familiar with me," said Siperstein. "So when this individual [lobbying for Senate sponsors] went to speak with her, she said, ’Oh yeah,’ she remembers me from the convention."



Garden State Equality also leveraged considerable resources on behalf of the campaign to pass the legislation. In 2006 the organization aired a television commercial featuring a transgender woman named Carol Barlow talking about being told during a job interview that she was unemployable because she is transsexual. The outreach to lawmakers and public education paid off: The non-discrimination bill passed by an overwhelming 102-8, and hate crimes passed 100-10.



Click here to read more of the article from Bay Windows.