Notes from the LGBTQ Rights Committee - Shore Area NOW
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
The Shore Area NOW LBGTQ Rights Committee met on Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at 6:00pm in Eatontown, NJ. In attendance were: Theresa Falcone, Lynn Hansen, Tess O’Dea, Aimee Rabino, Abbie Spector and Jill Stack.
The Committee discussed the boos, coups and wait and sees since the last meeting:
· Boos
o President Trump’s Transgender Tweets
· Coups
o Governor Christie signing the Trans Guidelines Bill which mandates guidance from the Commissioner of Education on Transgender Students.
o Governor Christie signing another measure into law that prohibits state-regulated health insurers from discriminating against patients based on gender identity.
· Wait and Sees
o Supreme Court Justices to hear case on religious objections to same sex marriage in 2018.
o Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, bars discrimination in the workplace based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Does Title VII include sexual orientation? A Second Circuit Appeals Court will be deciding.
Jill shared that the new state legislation that has come up since our last meeting is a bill for Equality License Plates.
Jill reported on the stage of the following state bills:
· S1405/A2739 – “Requires boards of education to include instruction, and adopt instructional materials that accurately portray political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transgender people.”
· AJR94 – “Supports US Senator Cory Booker’s efforts to persuade Federal Trade Commission to prohibit practice of sexual orientation change efforts.”
S1405/A2739 had been referred to the Assembly Education Committee on February 8, 2016 and is awaiting discussion. AJR94 had been referred to the Assembly Human Services Committee on April 14, 2016 and is awaiting discussion.
The group decided the next step was to encourage the Education Committee and the Human Services Committee Members to put these bills on their agendas for discussion. The following actions surrounding this objective ensued:
· Jill will gather the contact information (email address, snail mail address, phone number and fax number) for both the Education Committee Members and the Human Services Committee Members and forward this information to the Shore Area NOW LGBTQ Committee Members.
· Lynn will draft suggested correspondence to these Assembly Committee Members to achieve the objective and forward it to the LGBTQ Committee Members.
· Armed with the above information from Jill and Lynn, all LGBTQ Committee Members will reach out (using any and all the mediums that individual members are comfortable with) to the Assembly Education and Human Services Committee Members requesting that discussion be brought to the floor on these bills.
The group also decided that we will brainstorm at our next meeting the actions we can take with the community to push the above along. Also deferred to the next meeting is a discussion of the actions that we can take to grow our Committee and Shore Area NOW.
The group decided to include in their work Federal Bill HR2119 (Lieu): Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act because it goes with AJR94. Jill will review what stage this bill is in and report on it at the next meeting. The group will then discuss what action we can take.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at 6:00pm in Eatontown. Lasagna, salad, crispy Italian bread and beverages will be provided.
Submitted by: Lynn Hansen