Greetings friends,
A vast, ideologically diverse coalition of social and political organizations have unified to call for a rally on the State House in Trenton, NJ, to show our support for the marriage equality bill that is currently pending in the state legislature. The rally will be held this Saturday, December 5, from 11am to 2pm at 125 West State Street, Trenton, NJ.
As you might know, this bill must be signed during the lame-duck session of the legislature, as Gov.-elect Christie has stated that he would veto any marriage equality bill. Thus, it is important that the state Assembly and Senate pass the "Freedom of Religion and Equality in Civil Marriage Act" (S1967/A2978) within the next few weeks.
Here is a link to the Facebook event.
Our rally seeks to keep up the pressure on our (mostly Democratic) legislators to honor their commitments and vote for marriage equality. Two days after the rally on Dec. 5, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be meeting. We are not yet sure if marriage equality is on the agenda. But our hope is that through palpable citizen action, we can move this legislative process along.
In addition to the rally, we will be collecting letters to legislators, authored by their own constituents. Opportunities to get further involved will be provided.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), who sponsors the bill, will be addressing the crowd. Other speakers include representatives of several different political and religious groups. We are still looking for more speakers, if you know anyone who might be interested. In particular we are looking for an NJ couple currently in a civil union, to speak on why full marriage is necessary.
Please join us Saturday and call for marriage equality in New Jersey!
List of organizations and individuals that have endorsed the rally: TCNJ College Democrats; Princeton College Democrats; Rutgers College Democrats; Rider College Democrats; New Jersey Coalition of Reason; Democracy for America - NJ; Blue Jersey; The Perspective; Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton); Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-Ewing); Former DNC Chairman Howard Dean; International Socialist Organization; TCNJ PRISM; Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at Princeton High School; Gay-Straight Alliance at Rowan University; Gay-Straight Alliance at Rider University