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TASK FORCE FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
P.O. Box 11406, New Brunswick NJ 08906-1406
Website: http://www.gaspasg.org
E-Mail: gaypasg@att.net
732 744-1370
REMINDER: THE BILL (A.706), THOUGH DORMANT AT THIS
POINT, COULD MOVE TO THE FAST TRACK IN BOTH HOUSES IF THERE WAS ACTION ON THE SAME-SEX
MARRIAGE LEGISLATION PENDING IN HAWAII, ALASKA, OR VERMONT!
1. MINUTES: Meeting of June 25, 1998
A meeting of the Task Force was held at the residence of Messrs. Campbell and Harrison at
7:30PM, with the following present:
Ed Martone, Exec. Dir., ACLU-NJ
Messrs. John C. Campbell and Richard J. Harrison, GayPASG
Charlie Lanigan, GAAMC and GayPASG Coordinator, Union Co.
Eric McKinley
Anne Volz
The following were unable to attend because of conflicting schedules
or vacation.
John Schoen, PFLAG
Paulette Bellew
Messrs. Kevin L. Tisdol and Michael Mitchell, MCC/CTL
Sean Cashin, Central Unitarian Church of Paramus
George DeCarlo
2. Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Update as of June 23rd:
Anti-Pending This Year: 4 In AK, HI, NJ, OH
Anti-Adopted This Year: 4 In- AL, IA, KY, WA
Anti-Blocked This Year: 8 In CO,MD,ME,NM,NY,VT,WV,WI
Pro-Introduced This Year: 2 In MD, RI
3. Events Report: The following events were visited
and or post cards provided since our last meeting:
a. Pride Parade, Asbury Park, June 7th: We had very good response from
the parade. Rich and John reported that they enjoyed being chauffeured by Anne in the
convertible. They stated they noticed they received a good reception along the way but
were surprised when the reporter from the Star-Ledger informed them they had received the
best reception of any group in the parade. When informing her they would have no basis for
confirming that, she stated that she and her photographer were all over the parade and
could assure us we did in fact get the best reception. She was then informed that the
group did not know Rich Harrison and John Campbell so that it was THE TASK FORCE FOR
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE that was getting the attention.. The post card project received a
heartening reception at the event following the parade with the following results:
1918 Cards signed for the Governor and Legislators
396 Signed Authorizing use of their names in support of SSM
2314 Total Cards Signed following the parade
4. Domestic Partner Legislation
a. 50 Sets (300) cards to North Jersey PFLAG/
b. 20 Sets (120) cards to Lucent's Equal
c. 50 Sets (300) cards to "Under the Rainbow"
d. 500 Sets (3000) cards to GAAMC for their News Letter
e. Global (Cumberland County group signed 30 Sets.
f. Ann brought cards from the "Man's Coming Out" group at the Pride Center
5. Ed Martone reported the following re meetings with Legislators:
a. Joe Ciccone is going to facilitate setting up a meeting with Tom Smith,
R, 11th District from Asbury Park.
b. Bill Gormley, the Chair of the Senate Committee that would probably get the
Cress bill if it goes to the Senate, does not desire to meet on the issue unless there is
movement on the bill in the Assembly.
c. Ed is still working on a meeting with Arlene M. Frisk, D, 19th
District, Woodbridge.
d. Ed reported that ACLU and LAMBDA were still working on their proposal for DP
legislation and that it would most likely take the rest of the summer to complete.
6. Monroe Human Relations Commission: John C. &
Rich discussed Gay Issues at the June 22nd meeting. A student representative
from the High School, Keri Sender, came out to the Commission and confirmed that there was
no one at the school that a gay student could turn to for support. Kari had come out to
John & Rich two years before when she first started attending the meetings and efforts
had been made repeatedly to emphasize the need for support in the school for gay students.
The only event that had occurred in the two years was John being invited to talk with a
Social Studies class as a project arranged by Kari. Following the evening's presentation,
the Commission agreed to establish a committee to work on the issue and voted in support
of the resolution for Same-Sex Civil Marriage.
7. Open and Welcoming Congregations: John C.
distributed copies of a list of churches that welcome gays and lesbians. The list is
compiled each year by the OPEN HANDS magazine and was provided to us by Anne Carey, a
member of Promises. Copies are attached to these minutes.
Copies of statements from the following two churches were distributed:
a. East Brunswick Congregational Church's statement: "In Contrast to
Southern Baptist Convention, New Jersey Church Approves Policy Welcoming People of All
Sexual Orientations." Dated June 22, 1997
b. Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Keansburg, NJ statement of May 31, 1998 as
an "Affirmation of Welcome" Church states "... we explicitly welcome our
Lesbian sisters and our Gay brothers into the family and ministries of St. Mark's parish;
to participate fully in sacraments, fellowship, and governance of this community of
faith."
8. SEXUAL ORIENTATION BIAS SURVEY: Ed passed
out copies of this survey being conducted on behalf of the Supreme Court Task Force on Gay
and Lesbian Issues. This is an effort to examine the experiences of litigants, attorneys,
judges, criminal defendants, and other participants in the judicial process to find out
whether there is evidence suggesting bias or discrimination against lesbian and gay men.
Ed asked that copies be provided to anyone known to have experienced problems with the
judicial process in the state. The forms should be completed and returned in the
accompanying envelopes by August 15, 1998.
9. THERE WILL BE NO MEETING IN JULY. The next meeting
of this Task Force will be Thursday, August 27th at 7:30pm, at 473 Plainfield
Rd., Edison, 732 744-1370.
Minutes by Richard J. Harrison & John C. Campbell
John Campbell (L) with Rich Harrison and
chauffeur Anne Volz, Asbury Park, June 7th
NOTE: GayPASG's Website is looking good. Check it out at
http://www.gaspasg.org
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