Gottheimer hosts LGBTQ+ community roundtable, announces new legislation to protect elderly LGBTQ+ population
Discusses key issues including access to healthcare, homelessness, mental health, and legal protections
FAIR LAWN, NJ (Bergen County) — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) Friday hosted a roundtable with North Jersey LGBTQ+ advocates and community organizations, focused on key issues facing the LGBTQ+ community including access to healthcare, homelessness, mental health, and protections under the law.
Gottheimer also announced new legislation, the Elder Pride Protection Act, which he is leading with Congresswoman Angie Craig of Minnesota. This legislation will create a taskforce at the Department of Justice, focused on combating rising abuse against elderly LGBTQ+ Americans.
“It’s a privilege to represent North Jersey’s vibrant LGBTQ+ community and our Jersey Values in Congress, the first of which is freedom: freedom to be who you want to be and love who you want to live. Freedom to live free of fear, discrimination, and hate,” said Gottheimer, a member of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. “I will always oppose any attempt by those in Washington or around the country to roll back the clock on progress. At the end of the day, equality shouldn’t be a Democrat or Republican issue. It’s an American issue.”
Gottheimer is supporting the LGBTQ+ community in Jersey by:
- Protecting elderly LGBTQ+ people – Gottheimer is introducing the Elder Pride Protection Act with Congresswoman Angie Craig (MN-2), the result of conversations he had at last year’s LGBTQ+ roundtable. The bill will create a taskforce at the Department of Justice, focused on combating rising abuse against elderly LGBTQ+ Americans.
- Advancing the Equality Act – Gottheimer is a cosponsor of the Equality Act, which he most recently helped pass out of the House in 2021. The Equality Act will ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination regarding housing, employment, federal funding, and more. One of the first bills Gottheimer introduced in Congress, the Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act, is now included under the Equality Act.
- Standing up for LGBTQ+ youth – Gottheimer is supporting two key pieces of legislation to help and empower our LGBTQ+ youth. The first, the Pride in Mental Health Act of 2023, expands investment in anti-bullying resources and education, focused specifically on LGBTQ+ students. The second, the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, named for a Rutgers student from Ridgewood, New Jersey who passed away as the result of horrific anti-gay harassment, requires colleges and universities receiving federal student aid funding to enact an anti-harassment policy.
- Enshrining marriage equality into law – Gottheimer helped pass the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, which makes marriage equality the federal law of the land and fends off attacks on marriage equality at the state level.
Gottheimer was joined by, New Jersey Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (LD-38), Mayor Gail Rottenstrich (Fair Lawn), Bergen County Executive Deputy Chief of Staff Jared Lautz, The Trevor Project Senior Director of Communications Jackson Budinger, Garden State Equality Deputy Director Brielle Winslow-Majette, Planned Parenthood Public Affairs & Advocacy Manager Anne Marie Venezia, New Jersey Department of Children and Families Statewide Education and Scholarship Coordinator Safa Simmons, New Jersey Department of Children and Families Legislative Affairs Manager Kate Bradley, The Pride Center of NJ President & Volunteer Coordinator Miguel Rivera-Rios, EdgeNJ Development Coordinator Daniella Mendez, Bergen County LGBTQ+ Advisory Board Community Relations Specialist Lee Brigham, Homeward President and Out for Montclair Board Member Simone Kraus, and Equality Mental Health President/Clinical Director Craig Cutler.
